Carbon Monoxide The Silent Killer

Carbon monoxide is one of the most dangerous threats inside our homes and businesses because it is completely invisible. You cannot see it, smell it, or taste it, yet it can build up quietly and overwhelm people before they realize what is happening. It is often called the silent killer, and for good reason.

Carbon monoxide is created whenever fuel is burned incompletely. Common sources include furnaces, fireplaces, wood stoves, vehicles left running in attached garages, and portable generators. Unlike smoke from a fire, carbon monoxide offers no warning signs until the body begins to suffer the effects. Once inhaled, it attaches to the hemoglobin in our blood two hundred times more easily than oxygen does. This prevents oxygen from being carried to vital organs like the brain and the heart. Even relatively small amounts can cause serious problems. The early symptoms of poisoning often resemble the flu and include headache, dizziness, and nausea. If exposure continues, confusion and unconsciousness follow. In many cases the result is death.

High levels of carbon monoxide inside a home or business usually happen when something interferes with normal combustion or ventilation. Furnaces, boilers, and stoves that are dirty, cracked, or out of tune may burn fuel inefficiently and create more carbon monoxide than they should. If exhaust vents, chimneys, or flues are blocked by ice, nests, or soot, the gas cannot escape and leaks back inside. Running vehicles, generators, or gas-powered tools in garages, basements, or near open windows can fill a space with lethal concentrations very quickly. Modern buildings that are sealed tightly for energy efficiency can also trap small leaks until they build to unsafe levels. In some cases powerful exhaust fans or dryers create negative pressure that pulls exhaust back into the building, a process known as backdrafting. Even smoldering fires in a fireplace or wood stove can release carbon monoxide if the damper is closed or the chimney is blocked.

The numbers tell the story. Globally, nearly three hundred thousand people die every year from carbon monoxide poisoning. Here in the United States, more than one hundred thousand people visit emergency rooms each year due to exposure. Roughly four hundred Americans die annually from accidental non fire incidents involving this gas. Many of these tragedies happen during power outages when people use generators inside homes or garages, or during cold months when heating systems malfunction.

To understand how dangerous carbon monoxide can be, it helps to know how its concentration is measured. The standard is parts per million, which simply means the number of molecules of carbon monoxide compared to one million molecules of air. Normal background levels in a home are between zero and five parts per million. The Environmental Protection Agency recommends no more than nine parts per million sustained over eight hours. At fifty parts per million, workers can only be exposed for an eight hour shift. At two hundred parts per million, headaches and nausea develop within two to three hours. At four hundred parts per million, conditions become life threatening in only a few hours. At eight hundred parts per million and above, death can occur in less than two hours.

The good news is that there is a simple way to protect your family and coworkers. Install carbon monoxide detectors on every level of your home or business and outside sleeping areas. Make sure they are in working order, test them regularly, and change the batteries. Detectors are designed to alarm before levels reach dangerous thresholds, giving you time to leave the building and call for help.

As your fire department we strongly encourage everyone to make a habit of checking all smoke and carbon monoxide detectors twice a year. The easiest way to remember is to do it on the day we change our clocks. Replace the batteries, test the alarms, and make sure your building is ready. It takes only a few minutes and it can save your life.

Carbon monoxide does not give second chances. Taking action now ensures you and your family are never caught off guard.