What is carbon monoxide?

Carbon monoxide is odorless, colorless, and tasteless. When it is breathed into your body, it combines with your blood and prevents it from absorbing oxygen. It's responsible for half of the fatal poisonings in the U.S. each year.

Where does it come from?

Carbon monoxide is produced by incomplete combustion of fuels such as oil, propane, coal, wood, natural gas, gasoline, diesel fuel, charcoal, and kerosene. Faulty or inadequately vented vehicles and appliances that use these fuels -- furnaces, fireplaces, wood stoves, charcoal grills, kerosene heaters, gasoline-powered vehicles, lawn mowers, and snow blowers -- can produce deadly amounts of carbon monoxide.

Symptoms and Signs

Carbon Monoxide is especially dangerous for children, older adults and people who have heart or respiratory conditions. It can cause headaches, nausea, fatigue, dizziness, drowsiness, and burning eyes. Prolonged exposure causes more severe symptoms, including confusion, disorientation, convulsions, and unconsciousness. In very severe cases, carbon monoxide poisoning can be fatal.

If anyone is experiencing these symptoms, get immediate medical help. Call your local emergency medical service.

Here are some other warning signs:

Stale or stuffy air Excessive moisture on windows and walls Soot buildup around appliance vents Abnormal gas flame at appliance

If your carbon monoxide detector sounds an alarm, do not panic. Follow these steps:

• Check to see if anyone is experiencing these symptoms: nausea, burning eyes, light-headedness or dizziness, unconsciousness. If you notice these symptoms, get immediate medical help. Call your local medical emergency service. Then call your gas utility or another qualified contractor to have your appliances checked. There is a charge for this service.
• If there is no emergency, evaluate the situation. Open doors and windows to vent your home. Turn furnace thermostat to its lowest setting. Turn off all unvented appliances (range, auxiliary heater). Turn gas or oil water heater to its lowest setting.
• Check flues for obstructions.
• Check for soot at the base of the water heater and furnace.
• Check for vehicle or small engine operating in attached garage or basement.
• Check the detector and other conditions: Is it located near the kitchen, bathroom, or other areas where unvented appliances, chemicals, or humidity can cause the alarm to sound? Is it located near where people were smoking? Were cleaning products recently used nearby? Did the alarm sound when the weather included prolonged rain or dense fog?
• If you can't find a problem and no one is ill, call a qualified contractor to check your appliances. There is usually a charge for this service.

We recommend annual inspections for furnaces, water heaters, and equipment, including venting and chimneys. Here are some additional steps you can take to reduce the chance that carbon monoxide might build to harmful levels:

• Regularly check the flame on natural gas appliances. It should be blue. If it's yellow, its a sign that the fuel isn't burning completely and could produce carbon monoxide.
• Repair rusted or pitted flue pipes leading from your furnace and water heater to the chimney. Do not block the furnace air intake.
• If your furnace is housed in a small room, provide adequate fresh air through louvered doors or other fresh-air grills.
• Never use a gas range or unvented space heater to heat your home.
• Keep your garage door open whenever a vehicle inside it is idling.
• Start lawn mowers and snow blowers outside, rather than inside the garage.
• Never use a barbecue grill inside your home, an enclosed porch, or your garage.


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