Link to: CO alarm standards – know when you are protected
“He who does not know how to look back at where he came from will never get to his destination.” Jose Rizal (1861-1896, bio link)
Is the following statement good advice?
“Do not install carbon monoxide detectors within 15 feet of fuel-burning appliances as they may emit trace amounts of CO upon ignition, which can trigger a false alarm. Also, avoid installing your carbon monoxide detector in particularly humid rooms such as bathrooms.”
The point of having a carbon monoxide alarm is to alert the user of the presence of determined levels of carbon monoxide gas. The criteria for audible CO alarm set up by the listing agencies already has the manufacturer’s alarms resisting alarming at all of their listed test/set point levels for specific periods of time. This delay was enacted to reduce what has been termed nuisance or false alarms.
The terms nuisance and false alarms are dangerous to use in general terms. And to tell a consumer that accepting levels of carbon monoxide in your breathable air is ok is even more dangerous. If you cook with a gas device, do you stay 15 feet away from it? Should you keep your safety device outside the perimeter where you need it most? If your furnace & water heater are in that mechanical room closet in your apartment or flat, how can you possibly keep an alarm 15 feet away from it?
The advice above appears to be given by someone who does not know the nature of carbon monoxide and its’ impact on people with vulnerable health. It would also appear they are trying to convince us that periodic breathing of combustion gasses put out by appliances that don’t have to produce CO is also ok. What they deem a “trace” of carbon monoxide, enough to set off the U.L. or CSA or EN50291 alarm is not a trace.
The current CO alarm set points accepted worldwide are already too high, especially with non-digital display alarms where lower, harmful levels cannot even be noticed by the viewing occupant. The digital as well as the non-digital display CO alarms are also somewhat unfair for blind people and infants and children and others who do not have the same opportunities for at least being alerted visually by numerical concentration on the display before they experience new or additional detrimental health maladies; this is true for everyone who has one of these non-digital display alarms as their only protection. Infants & children of course have little choice in anything but the consequences.
My advice; if you or anyone gets within any distance of your combustion appliances, you should have a CO alarm in the area or available for entry into that space they are in. If your alarm goes off around an appliance, get the appliance fixed.
Here is some more of my advice: Begin taking responsibility for your own air. Measurement of carbon monoxide at low levels is something you can do anywhere. Then you can determine if you want to be in it or not. Remember, carbon monoxide displaces oxygen in your body immediately. Bob Dwyer, CSME Carbon Monoxide Safety
CO News Links
Four children treated for carbon monoxide poisoning after grandmother brings ...
Daily Mail
Christine McGourty, of the Carbon Monoxide - Be Alarmed! campaign, added: 'Using a barbecue indoors is always dangerous, but carbon monoxide poisoning is usually caused by faulty or poorly maintained fuel appliances, such as boilers, ovens and fires.
Four displaced by carbon monoxide leak
KKCO-TV
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KKCO) – One Grand Junction man gets a toxic scare as he gets up Friday morning. “I woke up, and my alarm started going off from my carbon monoxide detector,” said Jordan Dellenbach, who lives in the Fairmount Village ...
Skokie building evacuated because of carbon monoxide
Chicago Tribune
Skokie police say an apartment building at 10106 Old Orchard Court was evacuated at about 9:10 a.m. because of carbon monoxide detection. About 7 people were taken to the hospital as a precaution, but there did not appear to be any serious medical ...
Carbon Monoxide Detectors: Now's The Season To Ensure They're In Working ...
Chronicle-Telegram
With the heating season upon us in northeast Ohio, now's a good time to check your carbon monoxide detector or add a detector if you don't have one. Because carbon monoxide, also known as CO, is invisible and odorless, the only way to know that you ...
Middletown Borough Hall remains closed due to carbon monoxide problem and ...
Middletown Press and Journal
Middletown Borough Hall has been closed since a carbon monoxide incident cause four police officers to be hospitalized on Christmas Eve, and will remain closed until at least Monday, Jan. 7, Chris Courogen, borough secretary ...
The lowest U.L. 2034 & CSA 6.19 carbon monoxide alarm test point is:
70 PPM to 149 PPM – resist one hour, must alarm before 4 hours
Please read the alarm information on the package and in the instructions.
Increased education, awareness can prevent carbon monoxide poisoning
Minnesota Department of Commerce
SAINT PAUL, MN – Each year about 50,000 people visit emergency rooms in the United States for CO poisoning, and more than 500 die each year from this silent, odorless, colorless gas. As part of Winter Hazard Awareness Week (November 5-9), the Minnesota Department of Commerce warns Minnesotans of the dangers of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning and to take steps to avoid this “silent killer.”
Carbon monoxide kills, founder sends warning
Carbonmonoxidekills.com
Carbon Monoxide Information Website ... Carbon Monoxide Useful Links · Contact ... Get the Top ten carbon monoxide safety tips sent to your inbox:
Carbon monoxide toxicity
Emergency Medicine Ireland - By Andy Neill
Aviators – note:
(PDF) Federal Aviation Administration warning; Carbon Monoxide: a Deadly Menace
Carbon Dioxide earth atmospheric update levels;
Current Data for Atmospheric CO2
· Heart rescue video using an Automated External Defibrillator (AED)
· 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.
American Red Cross - disaster relief
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 Instruments
The Energy Conservatory
IntelliTec Colleges
CO Experts CO-Experts Model 2014 Brochure
Masimo (See the non-invasive RAD-57)
Mahugh Fire & Safety
ESCO Institute
TPI - Test Products International
Every Day is Carbon Monoxide Safety Day!
