Is Carbon Dioxide Making Our Blood Toxic?
Is Carbon Dioxide Making Our Blood Toxic?  
Podcast: Sanity Check
Published On: Fri Sep 04 2026
Description: Could rising carbon dioxide levels actually be changing the chemistry of our blood? A new study makes the startling claim that increasing atmospheric CO₂ could eventually make the atmosphere toxic—but does the evidence really support such a dramatic conclusion?In this episode, Dr. David Legates takes a critical look at the study behind the headlines. He examines its analysis of more than two decades of U.S. health data, which finds that blood bicarbonate levels increased as atmospheric CO₂ rose, and asks the obvious question: does correlation really mean causation?Dr. Legates then looks at the basic physiology of carbon dioxide and blood chemistry. Given that the human body constantly produces CO₂ at concentrations vastly higher than those found in the atmosphere, is it actually plausible that a relatively small increase in outdoor CO₂ could produce the changes the researchers claim?He also examines the study’s reliance on observational data, the many other factors that can affect blood chemistry, and the assumptions involved in projecting a relatively short-term trend fifty years into the future. The result is a useful reminder that an alarming headline is not the same thing as scientific evidence—and that extraordinary claims require more than a correlation and a straight-line projection.https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260814235845.htmhttps://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11869-026-01918-5https://doi.org/10.1111/apha.14066Visit our podcast resource page: https://cornwallalliance.org/listen%20to%20our%20podcast%20created%20to%20reign/Our work is entirely supported by donations from people like you. If you benefit from our work and would like to partner with us, please visit www.cornwallalliance.org/donate.