Information On Carbon Monoxide And Why It Is Dangerous
What is Carbon Monoxide?
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Carbon Monoxide is a lethal gas produced in normal amounts whenever you
use an appliance which burns a combustible fuel. Combustible fuels include
gas, oil, kerosene, charcoal and wood. When proper ventilation of
appliances becomes blocked, carbon monoxide concentrations build up inside
your home and become deadly.
Because carbon monoxide is invisible, tasteless and odorless, its
victims may never know there is something wrong until it’s too late. It
often takes the lives of whole families. Children and the elderly are the
first to be overcome along with pets. Over 2,500* people in the United
States will die each year of carbon monoxide poisoning and over 10,000
will be hospitalized.
Most victims who lose consciousness may be left with permanent brain
damage, mental and speech disorders, vision and hearing impairments,
seizures, coma or death.
Why Should I Worry?
Carbon Monoxide quickly replaces vital oxygen in the blood which
results in suffocation from the inside out. It could take as little as 3
minutes, depending on the level of concentration. Since you cannot see,
hear, taste or smell carbon monoxide, the only way to protect your family
is to recognize the symptoms and install a carbon monoxide detector.
Symptoms to watch for:
- headaches, drowsiness, dizziness an confusion
- nausea, vomiting and rapid heartbeat
- unconsciousness, coma and death
- everyone in the house is feeling ill at the same time
- it feels as though you have the flu Common Causes of In-Home Carbon
Monoxide Poisoning
- Malfunctioning or improperly vented heaters and furnaces
- Blocked passageways in chimneys and flues
- Paint removers which contain methylene chloride and which the body
absorbs and converts to carbon monoxide
- Depressurization in the house (“backdraft”).
Understanding the Meaning of CO Concentrations:
- 9 ppm (0.0009%) Maximum allowable concentration for short term
exposure in a living area
- 35 ppm (0.0035%) Maximum allowable concentrations for continuous
exposure in any 8-hour period
- 400 ppm (0.04%) Frontal or slight headaches within 1-2 hours
becoming life threatening after 3 hours
- 800 ppm (0.08%) Dizziness, nausea and convulsions within 45 minutes.
Unconsciousness within 2 hours. Death within 2-3 hours.
- 1600 ppm (0.16%) Headache, dizziness and nausea within 20 minutes.
Death within 1 hour.
- 3200 ppm (0.32%) Headache, dizziness and nausea in 5-10 minutes.
Death within 30 minutes.
- 6400 ppm (.64%) Headache, dizziness and nausea 1-2 minutes. Death
within 10-15 minutes. 12800 ppm (1.28%) Death within 1-3 minutes.
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