The Bohr Effect in Chronic Hypercapnia.

The study investigates whether the changes in oxygen affinity produced by exposure to 15 CO2, which affects oxygen transport by reducing oxygen delivery at the tissue level, would be compensated by changes in the Bohr effect. The Bohr effect showed a marked increase during chronic exposure to 15 CO2. The effective Bohr effect, which is the additional oxygen released at 50 oxyhemoglobin saturation P50 when blood is acidified from pH 7.4 to 7.3, was found to be elevated during the periods of greatest respiratory stress. These findings are of interest to personnel concerned with toxicological aspects of increased carbon dioxide exposure as potentially found in Navy submarine and diving environments as well as other hazards which might induce an acidosis such as hyperbaric hyperoxia.