[Interactions between the body and harmful substances in cold conditions]

The complex of physiological reactions caused by cooling is shown to change nonspecifically the organism's toxicokinetics and sensitivity to poisons resulting in considerably increased intake of inhaled harmful substances and their more rapid, though less significantly, elimination. A redistribution of heavy metals in the organism is possible, for example, prolonged cobalt retention in the adrenals. Cooling slows down association and dissociation rates of carboxyhaemoglobin in acute carbonic oxide poisoning. An increase in the acute toxicity of poisons is characteristic for the initial stages of cooling, although in pronounced hypothermia the acute effect of poisons is progressively reduced.