According to a 2012 report by the National Fire Protection Association, fire departments answer to an average of 72,000 carbon monoxide incidents each year. Carbon Monoxide, or CO2, is a colorless, odorless gas by-product of burnt fuel. It’s usually connected to wood stoves, car engines and other fire combustion sources along with gas or oil furnaces.
Why should you be constantly aware of CO2?
The short answer is that CO2 awareness is a matter of life and death. CO2 is among the leading reasons of accidental poisoning deaths in the US*, and conditions of CO2 poisoning is often confused as the flu, viral infections and prolonged fatigue, among many others. This makes CO2 poisoning the invisible killer that needs to be taken seriously by every Haltom City homeowner. Acute poisoning takes place from breathing large concentrations of CO2, but poisoning may also happen gradually over many months or years. Some signs may include nausea, vomiting, flu-like symptoms, dizziness and fatigue.
So what can you do?
- If you don’t have a CO2 detector in your home, get one right away. You can call Stark Services to purchase one today.
- Batteries should be checked on a consistent basis for existing CO2 detectors. It's also wise to replace the detector every 3-5 years.
- If you experience or have experienced some of the symptoms mentioned above, ask your doctor to test for carbon monoxide poisoning, and get a second opinion if necessary.
*emedicinehealth.com. Prevention information for Carbon Monoxide poisoning may be inaccurate or incomplete; none of these methods guarantee prevention of Carbon Monoxide poisoning.