Carbon monoxide generation from hydrocarbons at ambient and physiological temperature: a sensitive indicator of oxidant damage?

This paper shows that a variety of carbon-containing materials (wool, cotton, wood, paper, latex, Tygon) release CO during incubation at ambient temperature. This CO production was enhanced by aerobic versus anaerobic incubation, increasing temperature, and exposure to fluorescent light. CO production from glucose solutions was enhanced by alkaline pH or prior boiling or autoclaving and reduced by the presence of superoxide dismutase or catalase. We conclude that a variety of materials are constantly undergoing oxidation at ambient or physiological temperature as evidenced by the release of CO. Measurements of this CO production could provide a simple, rapid and sensitive means of assessing oxidative damage.