Beware The Winter Risk Of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
by Patricia Montgomery, LincsMag Writer.
Date: 01 December 2010
With the cold weather setting in and the heating being on more regularly, the Health Protection Agency (HPA) is warning people about the increased risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Make sure you have appliances such as boilers, heaters and cookers checked by a registered engineer before winter really sets in.
The danger of carbon monoxide
Carbon monoxide is a highly dangerous gas released by faulty fossil fuel and wood burning appliances - such as boilers, heaters and cookers.
At high levels, carbon monoxide poisoning can kill. Other symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning include:
- sudden collapse
- loss of consciousness
- headaches
- drowsiness
- dizziness
- chest pains
- nausea
- vomiting
Avoiding carbon monoxide poisoning
Because it is colourless, tasteless and has no smell, carbon monoxide can be hard to detect.
However, there are sometimes clues that may suggest a fault with domestic boilers or flues.
These sign are:
- black sooty marks on the radiants (clay bars above the gas flames) of gas fires
- sooty marks on the wall around stoves, boilers or fires
- smoke accumulating in rooms due to faulty flues
Yellow instead of blue flames from gas appliances is another sign that there may be a fault with the appliance. However, this doesn’t apply to fuel-effect, living-flame or decorative-flame gas fires as they are designed to look like flames from a solid fuel appliance.
If you see any of these signs, turn off the appliance, open your windows and have an appropriately registered engineer service the appliance as soon as possible.
50 People Die Each Year
Professor Robert Maynard of the HPA said: "In England and Wales around 50 people die from accidental exposure to high levels of carbon monoxide each year. Many of those deaths take place between November and February due to faulty fossil fuel and wood burning appliances or blocked flues. These deaths are preventable.
"To lower the risk, people should ensure that their fossil fuel and wood burning appliances are regularly checked by an appropriately registered engineer and that flues are checked for blockages. To minimise the risks, I recommend that people have these appliances and their flues checked before the start of winter."
The HPA also recommends you fit a British Standards Kitemarked audible CO alarm in your home. The installation of an alarm, which can be bought from most DIY retailers, should not, however, replace regular inspections by a registered engineer.
