Carbon monoxide: A danger in the past and today
Nov 11, 2024, 6:00 AM
Salt Lake City fire fighters discuss potential sources of deadly carbon monoxide in the home and the importance of having working carbon monoxide alarms at a press conference at SLCFD Station #1 in Salt Lake City Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2013. (Jeffrey_Allred, Deseret News)
(Jeffrey_Allred, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY — It’s beginning to look a lot like … time to check the carbon monoxide detector … everywhere you go.
Not only the one that you took off your ceiling when it started beeping and never put back up when you changed the battery. No, you need to also look at the others in your house, placed preferably on each floor and stuck close to the baseboards.
Poison control centers, fire departments, universities and medical professionals remind people each year about the importance of not only having a detector but keeping it up to date and placing it in the best spots.
Carbon monoxide is odorless, tasteless, colorless
Sherrie Pace, from the Utah Poison Control Center, sends the same message, especially knowing that carbon monoxide is odorless, tasteless and colorless, so everyone needs to be extra aware before it’s too late.
“People are the most surprised that carbon monoxide can come from things inside the home: fireplaces, stoves, water heaters, furnaces,” she said. “We get between 300-400 calls with people calling about a carbon dioxide concern … and we’re glad they call. We call this ‘the silent killer,’ so we want people to call us before something worse happens.”
Each year in the U.S., roughly 100,000 people head to the emergency room with a carbon monoxide-related issue. Nearly 14,000 of them will be admitted for carbon monoxide poisoning. In 2022, the most recent year data was available, slightly more than 600 died as a result of non-intentional carbon monoxide ingestion.
