Carbon Monoxide
Safety
Often called the silent killer, carbon monoxide is an
invisible, odorless, colorless gas created when fuels (such as
gasoline, wood, coal, natural gas, propane, oil, and methane)
burn incompletely. In the home, heating and cooking
equipment that burn fuel can be sources of carbon monoxide.
You can't see it, smell it, or taste it; but carbon monoxide can
kill.
Carbon monoxide is the leading cause of accidental poisoning
deaths in the United States. The federal Centers for
Disease Control estimates CO poisoning annually claims nearly
500 lives, and causes more than 15,00 visits to hospital
emergency rooms.
Early symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning are flu-like and
include
headache, nausea, dizziness, shortness of breath, mental
confusion and fatigue and are often mistaken for something
other than CO because the dearly gas goes undetected as it
builds up in a building. High levels of exposure may lead to
more serious health problems including loss of consciousness, brain damage and death.
Carbon monoxide detectors work like smoke alarms to alert you
to dangerously high levels. Battery powered portable CO
detectors are also available for use away from home.
Health officials recommend installing CO detectors on every
level of your home and near sleeping areas. If your CO
detector sounds an alarm, you should immediately move to fresh
air and call 9-1-1.
Carbon Monoxide Detectors Tips:
- CO alarms should be installed in a central location
outside each sleeping area and on every level of the home
and in other locations where required by applicable laws,
codes or standards. For the best protection,
interconnect all CO alarms throughout the home. When
one sounds, they all sound.
- Follow the manufacturer's instructions for placement and
mounting height.
- Choose a CO alarm that has the label of a recognized
testing laboratory.
- Call your local fire department's non-emergency number
to find out what number to call if the CO alarm sounds.
- Test CO alarms at least once a month; replace them
according to the manufacturer's instructions.
- If the audible trouble signal sounds, check for low
batteries. If the battery is low, replace it. If
it still sounds, call the fire department.
- If the CO alarms sounds, immediately move to a fresh air
locations outdoors or by an open window or door. Make
sure everyone inside the home is accounted for. Cal
for help from a fresh air location and stay there until
emergency personnel arrive.
- If you need to warm a vehicle, remove it from the garage
immediately after starting it. Do not run a vehicle or
other fueled engine or motor indoors, even if garage doors
are open. Make sure the exhaust pipe of a running
vehicle is not covered with snow.
- During and after a snowstorm, make sure vents for the
dryer, furnace, stove, and fireplace are clear of snow
build-up.
- A generator should be used in a well-ventilated location
outdoors away from windows, doors and vent openings.
- Gas or charcoal grills can produce CO - only use
outside.
Have fuel-burning heating equipment and chimneys inspected by
a professional every year before cold weather sets in.
When using a fireplace, open the flue for adequate ventilation.
Never use your oven to heat your home.
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