SYDNEY, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Rising carbon dioxide (CO2) levels are being detected in human blood, with an Australian study warning a key blood marker could reach its healthy limit within decades.
The findings are especially relevant for children and adolescents, whose developing bodies will experience the longest cumulative exposure to rising atmospheric CO2, said a statement from the Kids Research Institute Australia (The Kids) on Wednesday.
Researchers from the institute, in collaboration with Australia's Curtin University and the Australian National University, analyzed more than two decades of U.S. population data and found steady shifts in blood chemistry in 7,000 people between 1999 and 2020, closely tracking the rise in atmospheric CO2.
The study, published in Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health, found that serum bicarbonate levels, a CO2-linked blood marker, rose by about 7 percent since 1999, mirroring atmospheric CO2 increases, with concurrent drops in calcium and phosphorus.
The findings suggest the human body may already be compensating for a changing atmosphere, potentially with long-term physiological consequences, said the study's lead author, Associate Professor Alexander Larcombe at The Kids.
"If current trends continue, modelling indicates average bicarbonate levels could approach the upper limit of today's accepted healthy range within 50 years," Larcombe said.
The study urges tracking atmospheric composition and population biomarkers alongside traditional climate indicators to assess long-term human biological impacts. ■