Carbon monoxide detectors provide measure of security

In July, an 81-year-old Cape Girardeau woman passed out at her kitchen table and died, the victim of carbon monoxide sucked into her home through an air conditioner attached to her garage. She had left the car running and forgotten about it.

In January 2006, thirty-two inmates in F-pod of the Cape Girardeau County Jail were evacuated when the inmates -- and shortly thereafter their jailers -- began complaining of headaches and nausea. Unusual winds caused heating vents to malfunction and carbon monoxide was sucked into the jail.

When ice storms struck Missouri in December, dozens of people in the St. Louis area forced to use portable generators or alternative heat sources were treated at hospitals for carbon monoxide poisoning. Two people died trying to heat their home by burning charcoal in a cooking wok.

Whether such incidents represent most of the problem from carbon monoxide, or CO as it is commonly known, or just the tip of a much larger problem, no one in Missouri can really say. From 2001 to 2006, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services said 265 carbon monoxide poisonings were reported in Missouri, including 148 deaths. The reports range from a low of 14 in 2005 to more than 90 in 2002.

One difficulty for the health department employees who track carbon monoxide poisonings is spotty reporting. "State law says they are supposed to be reported, but there's no penalty," said Randy Maley, an environmental health specialist with the department.

Illinois, which reported nearly 1,200 carbon monoxide poisonings in 2006 alone, imposed a new law Jan. 1 requiring all homes and apartments to have carbon monoxide detectors within 15 feet of sleeping quarters. An 89-year-old Woodstock, Ill., woman who purchased a detector Jan. 2 credited it with saving her life four days later when the flue from a furnace boiler malfunctioned.

The Illinois law was a priority for firefighting agencies around the state, said Patty Thompson, spokeswoman for the Illinois State Fire Marshal. No door-to-door inspections will be conducted, she said, but when local firefighters respond to a dwelling they will check for working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. If they are absent the homeowner will be given a warning. If the detectors are not installed by the time of a follow-up visit the owner of the dwelling faces a fine of up to $1,500 or six months in jail.

Missouri has no such law, and Cape Girardeau doesn't require carbon monoxide detectors in homes in its ordinances. Such a law would be difficult to enforce, fire chief Rick Ennis said, and he's not sure a local ordinance would be any more effective than public education efforts.

Cape Girardeau firefighters respond to an average of seven carbon monoxide incidents each year, Ennis said.

"It is a good idea to have them," Ennis said. "It becomes difficult when you are talking about private residences to start requiring them. No matter how good an idea it is, it is a heck of a fight."

Ennis said his home has gas heat, a gas fireplace and a wood-burning fireplace. All are potential sources of carbon monoxide, a gas released by the incomplete combustion of almost every burnable fuel. The gas is odorless and colorless, which means detecting it requires a mechanical device.

Ennis has a carbon monoxide detector in his furnace room and one in his living room near the door leading to the garage.

Unlike smoke from a fire, which rises because it is warm, carbon monoxide is likely to disperse through the atmosphere indoors, Ennis noted. That means a carbon monoxide detector can be placed conveniently and use an electrical outlet.

A detector with a plug "is the simplest, easiest device," Ennis said. "But if you lose your power, you better have a battery backup."

Carbon monoxide detectors available at area hardware stores range in price from $24 to $50. Some available at Elias Ace Hardware on North Kingshighway sound an alarm when readings rise, while others show the concentrations of the gas. Normal levels of carbon monoxide in the atmosphere shouldn't register any readings.

Fred Elias, owner of the hardware store, said he has sold 40 detectors in the past month, some as a result of publicity about the new Illinois law and some as a result of news reports about carbon monoxide poisonings following the ice storms.

Elias credits the detectors in the home of a friend with saving him from carbon monoxide poisoning. "I was spending the weekend in St. Louis, and the CO detector woke us up," he said. "He had a gas fireplace, and it was either putting CO off or taking oxygen out of the air."

Elias has two detectors in his home, one in the furnace room and one near the bedrooms. "I'm a fairly careful person."

The state health department education program hits a higher gear in winter months, when people use furnaces that haven't been operated during warm weather or try to make it through a power outage. "Unfortunately, we think people should understand these things and be aware of the danger," Maley said. "Then somebody leaves the car running in the garage and someone ends up dying. And sometimes it is as crazy as someone smoking turkeys in their basement.

"Our job is to remind people that everything that burns gives off carbon monoxide, and they need to be aware of that," Maley said.

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126

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THE FACTS ABOUT CO POISONING

How to avoid CO buildup:

• Have vents for home furnaces and water heaters checked annually.
• Do not operate gas-powered equipment such as lawn mowers or electrical generators in enclosed spaces.
• Do not use charcoal grills indoors.
• Do not use unvented gas or kerosene heaters in closed spaces.
• Keep automobile exhaust systems in good working order.
• Do not work on a running automobile in a closed garage.

Symptoms of CO poisoning:

• Headache
• Irritability
• Confusion
• Fainting
• Shortness of breath or rapid breathing
• Nausea
• Chest pain
• Abnormal heartbeat

CO statistics

2005

• 14 reported poisonings statewide
• 4 deaths statewide
• 7 Cape Girardeau Fire Department CO responses

2006

• 47 reported poisonings statewide
• 15 deaths statewide
• 9 Cape Girardeau Fire Department CO responses