Carbon Monoxide: A Hidden Hazard

By Alan Peterson, M.D.

It’s well known that carbon monoxide from car exhaust can be deadly if not properly vented to the outside, but people can also become sick and die from breathing the carbon monoxide that may be produced from burning common heating fuels like wood, coal, fuel oil, kerosene, natural gas, and propane. 

Carbon dioxide is odorless and colorless, so it’s difficult to detect.  When inhaled in even small quantities, carbon monoxide is absorbed into the bloodstream where it interferes with the blood’s ability to transport oxygen.

When one of the above mentioned heating types is burned, harmless carbon dioxide and water vapor are formed, and useful heat is released.  Small traces of carbon monoxide may also be formed, but these will be harmlessly vented to the outdoors as long as your furnace, stove or appliance is functioning properly.  If it is not vented properly or the venting system isn’t working right, carbon monoxide can spill into the living space, creating a hazardous living condition. 

 Conditions that often lead to carbon monoxide formation and infiltration into the home include:

1. Anything that plugs the vent system:  nest, an internal collapse of a masonry chimney, or damage to the vent piping.
2. Vent pipes rusting through inside the building.
3. A leaking heat exchanger in a furnace or space heater.
4. Plugged fresh-air vents in crawl spaces, basements, utility rooms, or closets housing a gas appliance.
5. Excessive caulking, insulation, or sealing or use of taped plastic storm windows can reduce the natural influx of fresh air and “starve” an appliance of oxygen, causing excessive levels of carbon monoxide to form.
6. Improper air adjustment, wrong orifice size, or misalignment within burner systems, which can create excessive amounts of carbon monoxide that may infiltrate indoors if the vent system isn’t working property.

Preventive measures are the key.  Have a qualified technician check the system periodically and make adjustments to insure proper combustion.  Also before doing any remodeling or renovation, check to make sure, or have your technician check to correct anything that could create carbon monoxide problems.

If you suspect the presence of carbon monoxide because of flu like symptoms such as headache, nausea, dizziness, fatigue, irregular breathing, or eye irritation—get everyone to fresh air immediately.  Open windows and doors to air out the room or building.  Turn off the suspected appliance and keep it off until any problem is corrected.  Seek medical assistance if symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning persist and call your fuel supplier to correct the problem.

Over time carbon monoxide poisoning may result in confusion, disorientation, physical collapse, and death.  The very young, the elderly, people with heart disease, and those under the influence of alcohol, drugs or medication are particularly susceptible. 

Carbon monoxide detectors are commercially available, and provide additional warning about the presence of this “hidden hazard.”  Many times, however when these go off they are ignored because people don’t understand that they can detect small amounts of carbon monoxide that may not yet have caused symptoms in the individual.  Pay attention to these detectors if they go off.