DO-IT-YOURSELF DETECTORS

Jackson Fire Department Capt. Ken Koehler displayed a smoke-melted smoke detector that still works after it was in a motel fire in 1989.

Smoke detectors are the granddaddy of the clan.

Increasingly, home-safety-detection units are being used to examine for potential health risks, checking for anything from carbon monoxide to microwave radiation.

While smoke detectors are proven life savers, the worth of many do-it-yourself detectors are more often determined by individual circumstance and evaluation. If the number of kits on store shelves is any indication, both consumer and manufacturer interest is clear.

When it comes to using home-safety-detection units, "there's more and more interest, more and more talk of it," said John Sander of Sander True Value Hardware. Do-it-yourself detection kits have become more predominant in the last couple of years, he said, though some of the testing has been available for quite some time.

"The smoke detector and the carbon monoxide detector are probably the two most frequently bought and probably the most frequently used," said Tom Jones, operations manager at Lowes Home Center Inc. Jones has noticed an increase in consumer demand for carbon monoxide detectors during the past year or so in the Cape Girardeau store.

Do-it-yourself detecting may be accomplished a variety of ways. Some detectors, like smoke alarms, sound off when activated, others may use color codes, many detection kits call for samples to be sent to laboratories.

"They have various functions," Sander said. "Most of these have a shipping package so you can send the reading to a laboratory for them to respond to you that's all included in the price."

Water testing kits are tops in popularity among the many kits available at his Town Plaza store. A kit that tests for asbestos is among the newest he has seen.

Using a home testing unit affords people the opportunity to feel they are taking action to safeguard their families. It's fast and, in most cases, relatively inexpensive. Some kits may start at less than $10.

When using most do-it-yourself detectors, people should "bare in mind they are not definitive in their own right, normally," advised David Roth of Mead Environmental Associates in Cape Girardeau. "They are a screening device,"

In many cases, directions on the kits will note that certain situations may interfere with readings. Those notations should be kept in mind, Roth advised.

"On any type of kit that is out, one has to look at the technique that is being used, and will this type of testing yield either false positives or false negatives, both of which can be misinforming," he said.

The chief operating officer of the environmental consulting firm advised that a positive reading "may say that now you should use something more definitive," while a negative "doesn't necessarily mean that there's not a little bit there."

It's in the marginal areas that most do-it-yourself detectors have quite a degree of variability, he said, advising that "you have to approach everyone of them with a degree of inquisitiveness."

Some two decades or so ago, home smoke detectors drew questioning glances. Yet, they have advanced from "something of a novelty 15 years ago to something that is required by statute in most communities," said Randy Maley, environmental specialist with the Missouri Department of Health.

"People should have them on every level of the home and in the area that leads to the sleeping rooms," Jackson Fire Chief Gary Niswonger said.

"We have had people tell us that if it hadn't been for their smoke detectors, they probably wouldn't have woke up," he said. "They definitely save lives."

The first concern at any structural fire is whether the occupants have gotten out, the fire chief said. The buzzing of a smoke or heat detector is music to a firefighter's ears.

"Lots of time when we roll up on scene, they're still audible," Niswonger said of smoke detectors. But smoke detectors are subject to human error. They must be checked and, if needed, equipped with fresh batteries, regularly to insure proper function.

Whether any of the proliferation of other home-safety detectors will earn similar regard is yet to be determined.

Technology and basic increase in knowledge of some potential hazards has contributed to the growth of the field, Maley said.

Steps toward more energy efficient housing taken during the last 20 years has even played a role, he said. Because housing is more airtight than in past years, "contaminants are allowed to build up to higher levels than you would normally see," he explained.

Among the other substances that home-testing kits check for are pesticides in drinking water, bacteria in drinking water, lead in drinking water, lead paint and radon gas.