Carbon Monoxide News May 15, 2013 - posts updated frequently - Every day is a carbon monoxide safety education day. Scroll back in time and balance the carbon monoxide stories with the lessons learned.

Link to: CO alarm standards –
Know when you are protected

“It's always too early to quit.”
Norman Vincent Peale (1898-1993, bio link)

These following links may be of some use to you:
The World Clock - Time Zones by timeanddate.com
Google Maps-
Earthquake Map - USGS

American Red Cross - disaster relief
Air Quality Guide for Particle Pollution - U.S. EPA
Heart rescue using an Automated External Defibrillator (AED)

Current Data for Atmospheric CO2
Carbon Monoxide: a Deadly Menace - Federal Aviation Administration
Carbon monoxide toxicity-Emergency Medicine Ireland
Carbon Monoxide Survivor- Views from those who have been poisoned.

 

American Lung Association: State of the Air (excerpts)

Ozone Pollution
News about ozone can be confusing. Some days you hear that ozone levels are too high and other days that we need to prevent ozone depletion. Basically, the ozone layer found high in the upper atmosphere (the stratosphere) is beneficial because it shields us from much of the sun’s ultraviolet radiation. However, ozone air pollution at ground level where we can breathe it (in the troposphere) is harmful. It causes serious health problems.

It may be hard to imagine that pollution could be invisible, but ozone is. The most widespread pollutant in the U.S. is also one of the most dangerous. Scientists have studied the effects of ozone on health for decades. Hundreds of research studies have confirmed that ozone harms people at levels currently found in the United States. In the last few years, we’ve learned that it can also be deadly.

Ozone (O3) is an extremely reactive gas molecule composed of three oxygen atoms. It is the primary ingredient of smog air pollution and is very harmful to breathe. Ozone attacks lung tissue by reacting chemically with it.

What you see coming out of the tailpipe on a car or a truck isn’t ozone, but the raw ingredients for making ozone. Ozone is formed by chemical reactions in the atmosphere from two raw gases that do come out of tailpipes, smokestacks and many other sources. These essential raw ingredients for ozone are nitrogen oxides (NOx) and hydrocarbons, also called volatile organic compounds (VOCs). They are produced primarily when fossil fuels like gasoline, oil or coal are burned or when some chemicals, like solvents, evaporate.

When NOx and VOCs come in contact with both heat and sunlight, they combine and form ozone smog. NOx is emitted from power plants, motor vehicles and other sources of high-heat combustion. VOCs are emitted from motor vehicles, chemical plants, refineries, factories, gas stations, paint and other sources. The formula for ozone is simple, and like any formula, the ingredients must all be present and in the right proportions to make the final product.

Who is at risk from breathing ozone?

Five groups of people are especially vulnerable to the effects of breathing ozone:

•children and teens;

•anyone 65 and older;

•people who work or exercise outdoors;

•people with existing lung diseases, such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (also known as COPD, which includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis); and

•“responders” who are otherwise healthy but for some reason react more strongly to ozone.

The impact on your health can depend on many factors, however. For example, the risks would be greater if ozone levels are higher, if you are breathing faster because you’re working outdoors or if you spend more time outdoors.

CO and Air Quality News Links

Having a field day
The Hindu
They are trying to shoot a documentary on the harmful effects of carbon monoxide emitted by the buses and the possible ill effects on the people inhaling it. The girls also take pictures of street food vendors, capture a man smoking outside a bakery ...

CO alarm saves family from poisoning
Builders Merchants Journal
Firefighters from Hornchurch and Dagenham evacuated seven people from the block and used specialist gas detectors to check the carbon monoxide levels before allowing them back in. Smith had a nasty shock when the fireman found most of the gas was in ...

State Checking Air Quality In Gas Drilling Areas
wnep.com
DIMOCK TOWNSHIP — The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection is testing air quality this week in Susquehanna County in the area with the most natural gas activity. DEP says with so much drilling and fracking and so many compressor ...

Utah proves vulnerable to pollution
Salt Lake Tribune
In trying to establish a baseline for the amount of air pollutants present in our skies — searching in particular for the lung-scourging mixture known as ozone — the Utah Division of Air Quality has stumbled across the startling and very disturbing ...

Air Pollution Linked To Kidney Problems
iTech Post
Steps need to be taken to minimize the air pollution and help enrich the quality of life of ourselves and the people living around us. "The responsibility to reduce traffic pollution falls on everyone, and this study is yet another reason - as if we ...

Calculate your nitrogen footprint - Science News
Phys.Org
Fuel combustion creates acidic nitrogen oxide gases that irritate the lungs. Vehicles are the main problem, giving rise to the brown haze that hangs over polluted cities. Nitrogen oxides also react with other pollutants to form ozone. Although the ...

 

Who is responsible for the air you breathe? Take control inside your homes.

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:

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

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-seven 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

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

Note this distraction from carbon monoxide poisoning:
Bald Eagle Camera Alcoa Bald Eagle Camera, Davenport, Iowa.
NOTE: Another camera is in operation from a lower angle.

 

What does this have to do with carbon monoxide safety?
It is just a live web cam, perhaps a distraction from the headlines of death and injury. Please become aware of the air you breathe. Measurement is education. Measure your air accurately when measuring carbon monoxide. Bob Dwyer, CSME Carbon Monoxide Safety