Blood
About 98.5% of the oxygen in a sample of arterial blood in a healthy human breathing air at sea-level pressure is chemically combined with the hemoglobin. About 1.5% is physically dissolved in the other blood liquids and not connected to hemoglobin. The hemoglobin molecule is the primary transporter of oxygen in mammals and many other species (for exceptions, see below). Hemoglobin has an oxygen binding capacity between 1.36 and 1.40 ml O per gram hemoglobin, which increases the total blood oxygen capacity seventyfold, compared to if oxygen solely were carried by its solubility of 0.03 ml O per liter blood per mm Hg partial pressure of oxygen (about 100 mm Hg in arteries).
Carbon monoxide
Normal circulating levels in the blood are 0% to 3% saturation, i.e. the ratio of the amount of carboxyhaemoglobin present to the total circulating haemoglobin, and are higher in smokers. Carbon monoxide levels cannot be assessed through a physical exam. Laboratory testing requires a blood sample (arterial or venous) and laboratory analysis on a CO-Oximeter. Additionally, a noninvasive carboxyhemoglobin (SpCO) test method from Pulse CO-Oximetry exists and has been validated compared to invasive methods.