Wednesday, June 6, 2018

Carbon Monoxide News June 6, 2018, posts updated frequently

Every day is a carbon monoxide safety education day.
Scroll back in time through our archives for previous CO News links.
We can learn from others mistakes and efforts to prevent poisoning.

Carbon monoxide safety, we are all in this together.

Beauty without grace is the hook without the bait.

Daily News Links Are Below These Opening Questions And Warnings
How much carbon monoxide are you in when in any motor vehicle?

Did you know that many people do not measure the air they breathe.

After prevention there is no greater awareness than measurement.
Awareness leads to quick thinking. Measurement leads to quick action.

Are you in the know?

Do I know enough about carbon monoxide and carbon monoxide poisoning to justify never knowing how much is in the air I breathe every day, everywhere I go?”

There are some people who want to be notified of the presence of carbon monoxide at levels or concentrations as soon as the gas is present, at concentrations well below those that can instigate poor health symptoms but not be high enough levels to sound the CO alarm they own.

There are some people who do not want to push a button on their CO alarm to see what low, aggravating levels of the poison might be in their home, or anywhere.


The most recommended CO Alarm in U.S. is a high level alarm

Standard for Single and Multiple Station Carbon Monoxide Alarms
UL 2034
1.3 Carbon monoxide alarms covered by this standard are not intended to alarm when exposed to long-term, low-level carbon monoxide exposures or slightly higher short-term transient carbon monoxide exposures, possibly caused by air pollution and/or properly installed/maintained fuel-fired appliances and fireplaces…

Bob Dwyer
Carbon Monoxide Safety Association

COSA provides Carbon Monoxide safety education and training.

World Wide Reports - Pollution and Health Effects 
Carbon Monoxide News Links –
More news links below (International Spelling; no edits)

One Confirmed Death
Three hospitalized following carbon monoxide leak
1011now
LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) - Two adults and a child were taken to a hospital after a carbon monoxide leak inside a north Lincoln trailer home. - Lincoln Police have confirmed that one person has died. No word yet on the conditions of the other two people who were transported to the hospital. - Black Hills Energy determined the exhaust off the water heater was not venting properly. This caused the carbon monoxide leak…

30-unit motel evacuated over carbon monoxide levels
Seattle Times
WINDHAM, N.H. (AP) — Firefighters say they evacuated a 30-unit motel in New Hampshire due to high carbon monoxide levels in about half of the rooms. - Firefighters said they found no flames, but high levels of carbon monoxide in 14 rooms, instead. Patrons, many of whom are long-time renters, were evacuated until the units were ventilated and deemed safe. - McPherson said firefighters believe there was a malfunction with a gas heating unit. It was shut off…

Australian Warnings Continue As Cooler Weather Begins
Turn off potentially deadly heaters, Canberrans warned
The Sydney Morning Herald
The affected heaters produce increase carbon monoxide levels under certain conditions, including if the house is well-sealed and lacks ventilation. - The risk also increases if the heater is operating at the same time as a kitchen or bathroom exhaust fan, and if it is not regularly serviced. - Programs are in place to provide testing for households with the heaters installed…

News
The Murray Valley Standard
(South Australia) - In the past three years alone Metropolitan Fire Service and Country Fire Service have battled 113 house fires linked to home heating “mishaps” across the state. - With the winter months now here the region is starting to get frostier and despite a warmer than usual last couple of months care needs to be taken when heating the home. - “Carbon monoxide poising is something else which people need to be wary of, especially people running old kerosene heaters because they produce carbon monoxide as they burn. - “Carbon monoxide is colourless, odourless and tasteless so you might not even know you’re being poisoned but people can purchase special carbon monoxide alarms.”…

Deadline approaches to install carbon monoxide detectors
WQAD.com
(Note that this report uses the symbol CO2 when referencing Carbon Monoxide or CO.) BETTENDORF, Iowa – A new law goes into effect on July 1, 2018, requiring all Iowa homes and apartments to have carbon monoxide detectors. - Former governor Terry Branstad signed the law back in 2016, giving people a little over two years to install the detectors. Homes and apartments with fuel-burning heaters, fireplaces, gas stoves and garages are required to have CO2 detectors. - The State Fire Marshal will enforce the law through an inspections program. - Carbon monoxide is an odorless gas. It can cause irreversible brain damage and death, according to a press release from the city of Muscatine. Symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning include headache, weakness, dizziness, nausea or vomiting…

House in Nurstead Road evacuated in carbon monoxide alert
News Shopper
Four people were evacuated from a house in Erith during the night after a carbon monoxide alarm was set off. - Emergency services were called to Nurstead Road shortly after 11pm on Monday. - A man and a woman were evacuated from the house, along with a teenage girl and a baby boy. - The teen and the baby were taken to hospital, London Fire Brigade said…

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
We challenged middle school students to create posters warning people about the dangers of poisonous carbon monoxide (CO). Did students ever step up to the challenge! We received 700 poster entries – a record number!        Watch the video of the winning posters.

Please Note: "Place a carbon monoxide alarm with a digital display on a seat in the motor vehicle when you are out driving in emergency snow conditions (or always for that specific). Harmful levels of carbon monoxide (CO) can penetrate inside a motor vehicle just due to prevailing winds and exhaust not moving away from the vehicle but under it. If you want to learn more about carbon monoxide, begin measuring it with a personal CO monitor everywhere you go." Bob Dwyer, CSME Carbon Monoxide Safety 
  
Scroll Down For More of Today's CO & Air Quality News Links 
Please, stop diagnostic errors; start testing for carboxyhemoglobin
Journal of Neurology and Neuroscience
Carbon monoxide (CO) intoxication is one of the main causes of poisoning in industrialized countries and it often leads to diagnostic errors…

Carbon monoxide intoxication. 
nih.gov
However individuals with ischemic heart disease may experience chest pain and decreased exercise duration at COHb levels between 1% and 9%. COHb levels between 30% and 70% lead to loss of consciousness and eventually death…


Carbon Monoxide Safety Tips
National Fire Protection Association
… If the CO alarm sounds, immediately move to a fresh air location outdoors or by an open window or door. Make sure everyone inside the home is accounted for. Call for help from a fresh air location and stay there until emergency personnel….

NOTE: Listed U.L. 2034 & CSA 6.19 Carbon Monoxide Alarms
VISUAL DISPLAY:
Must not display under 30PPM in normal operation
AT 70, 150 & 400 PPM display must be accurate within plus or minus 30 Percent

SENSITIVITY TESTING: Resist alarming first times shown, must by second shown time
70PPM [PLUS OR MINUS 5PPM ... [BETWEEN 60 _ 240 MINUTES]
150PPM [PLUS OR MINUS 5PPM] ... [10 - 50 MINUTES]
400PPM [PLUS OR MINUS 10PPM ... [4 - 15 MINUTES]

“CITIZENS WILL CONTINUE TO DIE & BECOME SERIOUSLY ILL DAILY!”

George Kerr (1933-2017)

More news links below –

We have all been CO poisoned, some more than others
The following link takes you to a site with views from those who have been poisoned. The seriousness of carbon monoxide poisoning, the grief, suffering and disorientations experienced are clearly portrayed with the intent to help others and prevent future poisonings. With respect, please visit: Carbon Monoxide Survivor

What is in the air you are breathing right now?

What will you be doing today; walking into poison?
Who will be responsible for the air you breathe?
You may be the only person who can prevent your own poisoning.
We are all vulnerable to carbon monoxide exposure and poisoning.
Everyone has been poisoned by CO and will be poisoned again. The degree of the poisoning depends upon allowing yourself to be in a situation where someone else controls the air you breathe and the mechanisms for alarming notification.

Please read the alarm information on the package and in the instructions that come with the carbon monoxide alarm. Know that if it is a U.L. 2034 Listed product (or CSA 6.19 Listed), it is a high level alarm that has been tested to alarm no sooner than 70 PPM at the lowest (the alarm must resist for one hour when above this level) and when over 400 PPM before 15 minutes at the highest concentration, after resisting alarming for 4 minutes when over this level.

Know when your fire department and emergency responders begin wearing their breathing apparatus and what their civilian evacuation levels are for carbon monoxide; it may be as soon as the gas is present in your presence. Pregnant women, infants & children, people with heart & respiratory struggles, those suffering depression or chronic headaches and all people of vulnerable health should be alerted as soon as the gas begins to concentrate, around 10 PPM (parts per million) or lower.

You most likely need a low level carbon monoxide detector to sound off when carbon monoxide hazards are just beginning, not after you’ve been exposed to levels that make you have headaches, flu-like symptoms, increased tiredness, heart stresses or worse.

Do not take risks with carbon monoxide. Take responsibility for the air you breathe and the combustion systems you are responsible for. If you don’t do it for yourself, do it for others, unless you think $45.00, high level protection is good enough.

Help prevent injuries and deaths; don’t guess about carbon monoxide. Measure carbon monoxide for safety and knowledge. The more you test the more you learn. GET BUSY

Measurement is continuing education at its best. Bob Dwyer, CSME Carbon Monoxide Safety
"Love Song To The Earth" - Official Lyric Video

CO, Air Quality & Pollution News Links

EPA shifts gears (again) on chemical in paint strippers linked to dozens of deaths
Michigan Radio
Beth Kemler is with the group Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families. - "I don't think that there is a way that you could possibly warn the public enough. I think it just needs to be off the shelves," she says. “We know that more than 60 people have died since 1980 from using methylene chloride there are probably a lot more people that we don't know about.” - Inhaling methylene chloride fumes can cause dizziness, and the chemical can irritate the skin, eyes and respiratory tract through inhalation, or through the skin. Some products that contain the chemical include warnings. Until recently, the only one required on the label included long term exposure risks for cancer. - But carbon monoxide forms in the body when methylene chloride is inhaled, and that can become deadly…

Smoke from NM wildfires sends dangerous pollutants into the air
KOB
As fires continue to burn across the state, air quality is a growing concern. - Chest Medicine of New Mexico Doctor Jeffrey Dorf says more people are visiting his office because of the irritants in the air. - Doctor Dorf says the wildfires impact people differently. - "If you're close to the fire, there's smoldering and carbon monoxide, which is really not going to affect patients this far away from the fire,” Dorf said. “But there's particulate matter, which is the very fine small matter that comes up with burning plants."…

Role of kelp forests in mitigating climate change under threat
Phys.Org
A global study led by a team from The University of Western Australia and the Marine Biological Association of the UK has found that kelp forests take in more than twice the amount of carbon dioxide than previously thought, which can help mitigate the impact of climate change. - However the scientists also found that the ability of kelp forests to mitigate the harmful affects of climate change was hampered by the warming of waters across the globe by up to three times, which they say is cause for concern…

US Energy Information Administration
Energy Information Administration - EIA - Official Energy Statistics from the U.S. Government...

Sit and rest a while; miss the children, prevent repeating this tragedy.
Corfu carbon monoxide deaths: Memorial unveiled in Horbury
BBC News
A memorial bench to two young children who died from carbon monoxide poisoning while on holiday in Corfu has been unveiled in West Yorkshire…


To all parents everywhere; grief's pain alerts others

Out of tragedy comes the light of love
Chester County Press
Inside, Carly and Daulton had passed away from carbon monoxide poisoning. The gas tank was empty and the ignition was still on. Fumes from the exhaust had been drawn into the car through the air vents… “One of the best things for me is to talk to parents who have also lost a child,” Donna said.

VideoNex
In this informative and succinct video, learn how to identify and appropriately execute the use of a CO2 Fire Extinguisher…


CDC Carbon Monoxide Poisoning 
New Movie Release 2015
Carbon Monoxide Poisoning. Public domain video from CDC. Carbon monoxide (sometimes referred to as CO) is a colorless, odorless gas produced ...
A well put together video is found with the next link, but remember: U.L. 2034 Listed CO Alarms are high level alarms. Use them for protection against acute levels, but be aware you can still experience symptoms of the poisoning even though the devices are in place.

DailyMotion
About Carbon Monoxide and Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

JEMS.com - ...site has been designed with this in mind – to create a visual, interactive, educational resource which can hopefully end incidents of carbon monoxide poisoning and save lives… For more information, please visit - www.thesilentkiller.co.uk


Who is responsible for the air you breathe?
Take control inside your homes. 
-Link to: → CO alarm standards – 
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. Know when your fire department and emergency responders begin wearing their breathing apparatus and what their civilian evacuation levels are for carbon monoxide; it may be before 70 PPM. It is for pregnant women, infants & children, the elderly and all people of vulnerable health. Bob Dwyer, CSME Carbon Monoxide Safety

Tribute
George Kerr, a pioneer in smoke and carbon monoxide alarm manufacturing passed away in his home during the early morning of July 4, 2017. George will always be remembered for his passion to save lives and protect the health of people through low level carbon monoxide detection and alarming. He lived for over 84 years, beginning his career in fire safety in 1953. “We’ll never know how many lives we’re saving, but I know we are saving a few.” George E. Kerr (1933-2017)

These following links may be of some use to you:
- The World Clock - Time Zones







- Carbon monoxide toxicity-Emergency Medicine Ireland
- Carbon Monoxide Survivor- Views from those who have been poisoned.
- Carbon Monoxide detection- National Fire Protection Association

· Please take CARBON MONOXIDE SAFETY CARE during all holiday and everyday activities.
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U.S. Carbon Monoxide Laws for each state
National Conference of State Legislatures
As of March 2018, a majority of states have enacted statutes regarding carbon monoxide (CO) detectors, and another 11 have promulgated regulations on CO detectors. Alaska requires detectors approved by the state fire marshal be installed in all dwellings. Connecticut requires them in all new construction, as does New Hampshire, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, Washington and West Virginia. Florida also requires them in new construction, and in every room with a boiler. Minnesota passed a law requiring detectors in motor boats.

CO Detectors in U.S. Homes
27 states and the District of Columbia require carbon monoxide detectors in private dwellings via state statute: Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia (via adoption of the International Residential Code), Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin. Certain states limit the installation to buildings with fossil-fuel burning devices, others only require the device be installed upon the sale of the property or unit.

Another 11 states require carbon monoxide detectors in private dwellings regulatorily through the adoption of the International Residential Code or via an amendment to their state’s building code: Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Virginia, and Wyoming.

CO Detectors in U.S. Schools
California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine and Maryland require carbon monoxide (CO) detectors in school buildings.

CO Detectors in U.S. Hotels and Motels
Fourteen states require the installation of carbon monoxide detectors in hotels and motels under the statute. - Three of those states (New Jersey, Vermont and Wisconsin) have complementary administrative regulations. - Two states (Kansas and Washington) have requirements through administrative regulations alone.
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Ontario Canada Carbon Monoxide Alarm Legislation
Ministry of Community Safety & Correctional Services
Hawkins-Gignac Act
Fire Protection and Prevention Act, 1997
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Red Cross - Disaster Relief to safely assist law enforcement, fire department, utility company, city, county and state authorities as repair and rebuilding moves forward. Bob Dwyer, CSME Carbon Monoxide Safety

Nationally, the Red Cross provides food and shelter to people affected by as many as 70,000 fires annually, or about one fire every eight minutes.

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.

The Energy Conservatory
Masimo - see RAD 57
Mahugh Fire & Safety
ESCO Institute
TPI - Test Products International
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