Carbon Monoxide, The Silent Killer.
Carbon Monoxide (CO) is serious business. It’s important for me to make sure that my customers are not only protected against prolonged exposure, but are also well educated about all things carbon monoxide. It’s September 1st today, and in another month or two, it will be time to turn on your gas furnaces, warm your vehicle up in the morning for you commute to work, and enjoy the ambiance of your gas fireplace. Although instances of CO poisoning increase in the winter time, the hazard exists year round. There are numerous causes of CO and odds are pretty good that your home could be at risk of having dangerously high levels, especially during the coming winter months.
According to the Centers For Disease Control (CDC) each year approximately,
50,000 Americans visit the emergency room for CO poisoning.
4,000 are admitted for inpatient treatment in US hospitals.
400+ Americans die from CO poisoning.
What is CO?
Carbon Monoxide is a molecule of one carbon atom bound to one oxygen atom. It is a colorless, odorless, and tasteless gas that is considered an immediate life threat when exposed to elevated levels. In short, carbon monoxide is a byproduct of anything that is burning. A good rule of thumb is, if it produces smoke or exhaust, it probably is producing CO. Propane or natural gas appliances create one of the most common sources of carbon monoxide, but even burning a match will produce very small amounts of CO.
CO is a molecule that has an incredible affinity for hemoglobin, our red blood cells that carry oxygen throughout our bodies. When carbon monoxide binds to hemoglobin, less oxygen gets transported to body tissues and vital organs such as the brain and heart. The bond between CO and hemoglobin is 250 times stronger than the bond of oxygen and hemoglobin. This means that when CO is inhaled and distributed into the blood stream, no matter how hard the oxygen tries, the CO won’t get kicked off the hemoglobin. There are, however, some very effective treatments for CO poisoning, but only if you catch it in time.
How Does CO Exposure Work?
CO is a result of the incomplete combustion of carbon. Since it’s rare to ever get 100% combustion of carbon, CO is almost always present in any burning material contains carbon. This includes wood, paper, gas, oil, propane, kerosene, natural gas, and plastics. Sitting around a campfire and getting the occasional wisp of smoke in your face will undoubtedly expose you to CO, just not enough to cause symptoms. CO is much more of a concern inside of buildings and when the source is propane or natural gas. Inside of a building as compared to the outdoors is a bigger problem because there isn’t an opportunity for the CO to dissipate. Toxic levels increase to the point of causing health risks. Think of carbon monoxide exposure as a measure of concentration multiplied by time. You can be exposed to a minimal amount for a short period of time and probably be okay. The graphic to the left illustrates this (concentration x time) formula well.
It’s important to make certain that the concentration piece makes sense, let’s explain this a little further. We measure CO concentration in “PARTS PER MILLION” or PPM. Study.com defines PPM as:
PPM, or parts per million, is best used to describe the quality of performance or concentration of a substance in a larger mixture. This could be used to describe contents in water, a supplier's defective rate, etc. It is technically a dimensionless measure illustrated as a percentage, and is better suited to describing smaller concentrations of substances in gases, liquids, or solids; a ratio of 2 quantities of the same unit. In full form, ppm is expressed as one in a million, or ppm=1/1,000,000=0.0001ppm=1/1,000,000=0.0001% of the whole.
So for sake of interpreting the chart to the left, at the very bottom you’ll see 6,400 ppm. When you express this as a percentage you get 0.6%. That means that less than 1% CO in the atmosphere can be fatal within 15 minutes.
A good example of a minor exposure is when you walk through the parking lot of your local grocery store. Cars are driving past you and producing CO filled exhaust. Fortunately there’s plenty of room for the CO to dissipate and not have heavy concentrations. The other advantage to this scenario is you are only exposed to these small levels of CO for a few moments as you make your way through the parking lot.
Now, let’s look at a little different scenario. Working as a paramedic I had a patient come by the fire station and he was complaining of nausea and a headache. During our patient assessment, we found that this poor guy had dangerously elevated levels of CO in his bloodstream. Upon further questioning, we discovered that he had been running a forklift inside of a closed warehouse for the whole day. Undoubtedly the forklift was producing a concentration that was incredibly elevated inside the warehouse and his exposure time was hours as opposed to the parking lot example of only a few moments.
The Kidde brand detectors that I prefer will sound an alarm under the following criteria:
70 ppm (0.007%) CO Concentration 60 – 240 minutes
150 ppm (0.015%) CO Concentration 10 – 50 minutes
400 ppm (0.04%) CO Concentration 4 – 15 minutes
Real Life CO Poisoning
I gave a real life account of CO poisoning in the previous section when I talked about the unfortunate forklift operator, but that’s just one case. The stories are endless.
I personally have had CO poisoning. I was dumb, plain and simple. I was operating my gas powered air compressor that I use for dryer vent cleaning that is mounted inside of my enclosed work trailer. I was getting the compressor set up and fine tuned, but did not have adequate ventilation. I knew that I was probably exposing myself to CO, but figured the levels were low enough that it shouldn’t be an issue. BOY WAS I WRONG!!! About 1:00AM that night, I woke up with the worst headache of my life! I took four 200mg Ibuprofen and tried to go back to sleep. I tossed and turned for the rest of the night trying to get some sleep. Finally at about 5:00 I woke up and decided to get on with my day. My only symptom was the ripping headache. No nausea, no hallucinations, and no altered mental status. THANK GOD! It could have been so much worse, but luckily I didn’t have enough of the exposure to cause more severe symptoms. Finally at about 8:00PM, the day after my exposure, my headache subsided and I was able to catch up on my much needed slumber from the restless night before.
My story is fortunate. Lesson learned and I won’t let that mistake happen again. Unfortunately, if you do a quick google search of “Carbon Monoxide Poisoning News”, it returns countless tragedies that could have easily been prevented. Here’s a quick list of news stories that paint the picture of the true danger of CO.
Family Of Four Died Of Suspected Carbon Monoxide Poisoning In Parks AZ
Idaho Mom Warns of Carbon Monoxide Dangers After Her 5 Children and Sister-in-Law Survive Poisoning
4 Adults, 3 Kids Found in Minnesota Home Died of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
Carbon Monoxide Poisoning to Blame for Deaths of 3 American Tourists in Bahamas, Police Say
Officials Confirm Seven People Died of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning at Minnesota Home
I don’t list these incidents as an intent to incite you to call me to pay me for a service call to install a CO detector in your home. My main motivation is that I never have to respond on my fire truck to your home in the event of one of these tragedies. These situations are so easy to prevent.
An Ounce Of Prevention Is Worth A Pound Of Cure
CO Detectors
Sure, I’d be happy to come install a detector in your home, but it’s such an easy Do-It-Yourself project. Do a quick YouTube search of “how to install a CO detector”, then go to Home Depot and buy one.
When it comes to detectors, my personal, unsolicited opinion, is that Kidde brand detectors are the best. I’ve had the best luck with their smoke and CO detectors. The NFPA recommends that you have a CO detector on every level of your home. There’s a myth that carbon monoxide alarms should be installed lower on the wall because carbon monoxide is heavier than air. In fact, carbon monoxide is slightly lighter than air and diffuses evenly throughout the room. This means that it really doesn’t matter if you have your CO detectors mounted down low or opt for the CO/Smoke detectors mounted to your ceiling. Whether you hire me to install a detector in your home or do it yourself, YOUR HOME NEEDS DETECTORS!
I absolutely appreciate you taking the time to read this rant about carbon monoxide. Hopefully, I have painted the picture about how serious this is. Just think, if every home in the United States had well maintained and functioning CO detectors, we could prevent an incredible amount of tragedy.
Please contact us if you are interested in having us get you set up with proper CO detectors, please give us a call or fill out our contact form. We look forward to helping you with all of your home safety needs.
-God Bless
