Carbon Monoxide News - July 9, 2012

“It is always self-defeating to pretend to a generation younger than your own; it simply erases your own experience in history.”
Renata Adler (1938, bio link)

Technicians, don’t start your test with a false zero!
Some test instruments are Auto Zero instruments. This means that when you turn them on in a space they will automatically display zero PPM of CO. This may not be the case. There may be carbon monoxide present. Some instrument manufacturers have their systems, often combustion analyzers, configured to display zero if the levels are below 40 PPM of CO. If the levels are over that amount the display screen will read error or CO sensor error or some notification. If this is the case with the test instrument you use, take it back outside and restart the instrument. This is a good reason to use a stand-alone CO test instrument that you use for nothing else but measuring air.

In the U.S. the carbon monoxide alarms listed under the standard  labeled as listed under U.L. (Underwriters Laboratory) 2034 are promoted, inexpensive, easy to find and in some states required by law. It is important to know that the listing requires the alarms to wait or resist alarming to the concentrations they have been tested for, for specific periods of time. The specifics of this delay are  not printed or placed in the packaging of the safety device, only that they have been tested at levels of 70, 150 and 400 PPM of CO. Please note the delays. (The CSA standard in Canada mirrors the U.L. 2034 Standard.)

The resistance to alarm has been factored in to prevent nuisance  alarm calls for emergency responders for when CO comes from some common every day combustion sources. That is why the instructions for placement of these alarms in buildings early on informed people to not put them in your kitchen if you cook with gas. Why? Because they might go off and you are only cooking. The same was said of mechanical rooms where combustion equipment may be.

It must also be noted that this is a consensus standard.  The manufacturers of the alarms collectively make their own rules on accuracy of the sensor and when the alarms sound a warning signal. They are designed to alarm only when high concentrations of carbon monoxide have been present for a length of time, not as it presents itself to the alarm sensor. 

U.L. 2034

•  70 PPM and under 150 PPM of CO; resist one hour but must alarm in four hours.
• 150 PPM and under 400 PPM of CO; resist alarming for 10 minutes but must alarm before one hour.
• 400 PPM of CO and higher; resist alarming for four minutes but must alarm before 15 minutes. 

Know that at:

•   70 PPM of CO is around twice the concentration used by fire departments for full civilian evacuation.
• 400 PPM of CO, a healthy adult person has around 3 hours before it becomes deadly.
• 12,000 PPM of CO, U.L. 2034 alarm must resist alarming for 4 minutes.
• 12,000 PPM of CO kills everybody in around 3 minutes. 

With these specific listed alarms utilized, you can see why people may be suffering symptoms of headache, tiredness, changes in heart rate, breathing or any of the other known symptoms before their alarm goes off. You can see the headlines and link to those stories where yes, the alarms saved lives, but the people involved had been sick for days, weeks or longer. This is a vital reason that the health and medical community not ignore the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning and test the presenting patient. Stop sending them home with medications of guesswork! 

 Carbon monoxide, the more you test, the more you will find and the more systems or situations you will find to fix. Personally, I like to know when I am in the presence of carbon monoxide.

Bob Dwyer, CSME Carbon Monoxide Safety

CO News links
Family overcome by carbon monoxide
Lake County News Sun
Five people in a house at 644 McAlister in Waukegan reportedly were overcome by carbon monoxide from a generator running in the home on Saturday.

Unsafe use of generators, grills can lead to poisoning
The Fayette Tribune
“Never use generators and charcoal or gas grills inside your home, in basements, in garages, or other enclosed spaces due to the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning,” DHHR Office of Environmental Health Services Director Barb Taylor said. “CDC says these ...

We have been affecting our air for a long time.
Developing world caused more climate change before Industrial Revolution
New York Daily News
Mankind was causing climate change long before the combustion engine was even invented, according to a new study that suggests developing countries like China and India have contributed more to global warming than previously thought. Researchers at the ...

· Please take CARBON MONOXIDE SAFETY CARE during all holiday and everyday activities.

· Carbon Monoxide Survivor A website made by poisoning survivors that brings a view that can only come from those that know what it is like to have been poisoned - as well as live with the long term impact.

· Consider low level protection for carbon monoxide and smoldering fire detection problems; don't leave anyone behind.

National Conference of State Legislatures
Carbon Monoxide Detectors State Statutes
Twenty-five U.S. states have statutes that require carbon monoxide detectors in certain residential buildings. Updated Nov. 2011
Alaska | Arkansas | California | Colorado | Connecticut | Florida | Georgia | Illinois | Maine | Maryland | Massachusetts| Michigan | Minnesota | Montana | New Jersey | New Hampshire | New York | North Carolina | Oregon | Rhode Island | Texas | Utah | Vermont | Virginia | Washington | Wisconsin | West Virginia

Google Maps to reference the locations referenced in these Internet headlines.

The following companies are acknowledged for their continued support of carbon monoxide safety education and this daily news blog. They may just have what you are looking for.
Fieldpiece
The Energy Conservatory
IntelliTec Colleges
CO Experts
Masimo (See the non-invasive RAD-57)
Mahugh Fire & Safety