A Toronto family’s narrow escape from fatal carbon monoxide poisoning illustrates some of the common dangers and misconceptions an often-overlooked potential threat.
Police say the family had turned off the home’s detector in the belief it was defective, allowing CO levels to reach 900 parts per million in the household air, nearly 10 times the level considered potentially fatal.
That’s a fairly common mistake, one of several that Canadians tend to make. Here are five important things to know about carbon monoxide and how to keep safe.
Almost undetectable
Carbon monoxide is colourless, odorless and tasteless, making its presence difficult to detect without an alarm. Most
CO poisoning can easily be mistaken for common ailments like the flu. Symptoms include headaches, nausea, shortness of breath, fatigue, burning eyes, fainting and confusion.
Other giveaways are when more than one household member experiences those symptoms, or if they improve when you’re out of the home.
A home itself can show evidence of excessive CO levels. Those signs can include:
- Stale or stuffy air
- Excessive moisture on windows, walls or cold surfaces
- Pilot lights burn yellow or orange – not the usual blue – or they go out altogether
- Chalky white powder or soot buildup near fuel-burning appliances
Leading cause of poisoning deaths
CO poisoning is the leading cause of fatal poisonings in Canada, killing more than 50 people each year.
Poisoning occurs when CO replaces the oxygen in your blood, which means your heart, lungs and brain don’t get their usual vital flow of air. Even non-fatal cases can result in brain damage.
People are most vulnerable to carbon monoxide poisoning while asleep, and its undetectable nature heightens the threat. Recent cases in Ontario have seen families decimated by overnight contamination.
Most Canadians aren’t using detectors properly
A recent poll shows that while most Canadians have CO detectors installed in their homes, 61 per cent of people don’t know when to replace their detectors and 78 per cent don’t know what it means when the alarm beeps in non-emergency situations.
READ MORE: Most homeowners need educating on carbon monoxide detectors: survey
For the record, those beeps can mean the battery needs replacing but in more modern detectors, it means the device needs replacing.
Another danger is just ignoring those beeps. The Toronto family rescued Wednesday morning had turned the detector off because they thought it was defective. If you think yours isn’t working, better to replace it than just turning it off.
Know where to install your alarm
A carbon monoxide detector can also be fairly ineffective if installed in the wrong place.
A home should have several detectors installed, with one in the basement and others in sleeping and living areas.
READ MORE: Make your home safer with these 5 tips
However, they should also kept clear of other spots. Don’t install a detector too close to fuel-burning appliances like furnaces or stoves or any place where the temperature drops to 5 C or less.
And of course, make sure it’s installed where you can hear it.
Your home contains some CO-producing material
Nearly 90 per cent of homes have some appliance or other element that poses a potential CO threat, according to the Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs.
The main sources of CO are wood or gas stoves, gas refrigerators, gas engines and kerosene heaters. Other possible sources include furnaces, dryers, blocked chimneys, range hoods or water heaters.
Typically, these only pose a threat if they’re malfunctioning or not properly maintained. Have fuel-burning appliances inspected on a regular basis and be sure chimneys are kept clear.
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