# Does "the gas turn the bodies pink"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 2, 2009, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-gas-turn-the-bodies-pink/505071 "2009-08-02T16:43:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-gas-turn-the-bodies-pink/505071/1 "2009-08-02T16:43:24Z")
In 2001’s HBO movie _Conspiracy_ which details the meticulous planning of the Holocaust, Adolf Eichmann, played by Stanley Tucci, reports that they’ve tried to reroute the exhaust from troop carrier trucks to kill the Jewish captives, but there’s a side effect - the gas turns the bodies pink. Does it? Whenever someone commits suicide by car parked in the garage the news must omit this odd detail. I’m just curious. You’ll have to trust that I’m not planning on gassing anyone dependent on your answer. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-gas-turn-the-bodies-pink/505071/2 "2009-08-02T16:48:21Z")
From the Wikipedia article on [carbon monoxide poisoning](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_monoxide_poisoning): “Blood oxygen content is actually increased in the case of carbon monoxide poisoning; because all the oxygen is in the blood, none is being given to the tissues, and this causes tissue hypoxic injury. Hemoglobin acquires a bright red color when converted to carboxyhemoglobin, \*\* so a casualty of poisoning is described classically as looking pink-cheeked and healthy\*\*.” ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-gas-turn-the-bodies-pink/505071/3 "2009-08-02T17:04:46Z")
Carbon monoxide poisoning often results in “flushed”-looking skin even in cases of sub-fatal exposure. There’s a Berton Roueche true medical detection story about a family whose members repeatedly turned up at an ER with odd toxic symptoms including confusion and headaches. An intern finally clicked on the fact that they were red-faced and got their carboxyhemoglobin levels checked (their chimney had gotten partially blocked by a bad brick repair, resulting in CO buildup). I can’t figure why movie Nazis would be concerned about this “side effect” seeing as forensic investigations were not likely to occur. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-gas-turn-the-bodies-pink/505071/4 "2009-08-02T17:05:43Z")
Thanks. Hmm, I had imagined a more full body pink from the way the movie Nazis where embarrassed by it. Looking pink-cheeked while dead hardly seems noteworthy. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-gas-turn-the-bodies-pink/505071/5 "2009-08-02T17:09:54Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > Thanks. > > Hmm, I had imagined a more full body pink from the way the movie Nazis where embarrassed by it. Looking pink-cheeked while dead hardly seems noteworthy. It’s not just pink cheeks - bodies would look flushed all over - but if you were envisioning a sort of pepto-bismol color, that’s not the kind of pink that’s being referred to. Have you ever had smoked meats? Often, you can detect a distinct pink region around the outside of the meat. That’s caused by CO in the smoke keeping any blood or myoglobin pink. ---
**Author:** ![ryan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@ryan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ryan)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-gas-turn-the-bodies-pink/505071/6 "2009-08-02T18:57:11Z")
My take on the scene was that Tucci’s character wasn’t stating the “pinkness” as a concern, rather it was his lingering embarrassment over his having fainted when overseeing a demonstration of the gassing trucks that caused his discomfort while discussing their use. As presented in the film, the gas trucks were effective, just not sufficient to the needs of wholesale slaughter on the scale desired. As was demonstrated by Dr. Meyer, who “crunched the numbers” regarding the efficiency of the gas vans. ---
**Author:** ![dada2fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ccd318/32.png) [@dada2fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dada2fish)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-gas-turn-the-bodies-pink/505071/7 "2009-08-02T20:13:44Z")
Unfortunately, I had the horrible task of discovering a friend of mines body in the garage after he inhaled carbon monoxide. As my mind was racing to figure out what was going on, i immediately dismissed the fact that he was dead, because the skin coloring on his hands looked healthy, like blood was still pumping through them. I soon realized, due to other clues, that I was probably wrong. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-gas-turn-the-bodies-pink/505071/8 "2009-08-02T20:45:58Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > Have you ever had smoked meats? Often, you can detect a distinct pink region around the outside of the meat. That’s caused by CO in the smoke keeping any blood or myoglobin pink. This is often called the ‘smoke ring’. Carbon monoxide is also used to [keep meats pinker longer](http://www.fwwatch.org/food/foodsafety/food-technologies/carbon-monoxide/masking-the-truth-about-meat).