In the winter season, increased indoor activities and our reliance on heating and appliances can raise the risk of carbon monoxide (CO) emission. And because it is a colourless, ordourless and tasteless gas, it is virtually impossible to detect without the presence of a carbon monoxide alarm. Steps should be taken to ensure that your home air is clear of CO.

• Have your home tested for carbon monoxide/gas leaks around gas furnaces
• Fireplaces, chimneys, vents, furnaces and fan systems should be professionally inspected and cleaned each year to maintain safe function
• Propane or natural gas stove tops or ovens should not be used to heat your home
• Avoid the use of a kerosene space heater indoors or in a garage
• Regularly clean the clothes dryer ductwork and outside vent cover for blockages such as lint, snow, or overgrown outdoor plants
• Install carbon monoxide (CO) alarms in your home to alert you to the presence of this deadly gas
• Make sure all members of the household are aware of what to do if the alarm should go off

This gas is also very poisonous, and exposure to low levels of CO over an extended period of time is just as dangerous as extreme exposure. Symptoms of Carbon Monoxide poisoning are often confused with those of the flu, and food poisoning.

The initial symptoms of low to moderate CO poisoning are similar to the flu, but without the fever. They include:

• Headaches
• Fatigue
• Shortness of breath
• Nausea
• Dizziness
• Light-headedness

High level CO poisoning results in progressively more severe symptoms, including:

• Mental confusion
• Vomiting
• Loss of muscular coordination
• Loss of consciousness
• Death

For more information on fire safety, visit the Alberta Emergency Management Agency website at www.aema.alberta.ca, or phone 780-422-9000 (toll-free in Alberta at 310-0000).

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Carbon monoxide poisoning symptoms from one time exposure (acute CO poisoning) can range from not feeling any symptoms at all to feeling major symptoms (but not knowing what’s causing them) to death in minutes. These symptoms depend on the level of CO in the air, how long it is breathed, and a person’s level of activity.

Carbon monoxide reacts with hemoglobin (Hb) in red blood cells and forms carboxyhemoglobin (COHb). This is expressed as a percentage of red blood cells carrying carbon monoxide.

Low level carbon monoxide poisoning symptoms

• Flu like symptoms
• Food poisoning like symptoms
• Headache
• Brain fog and difficulty thinking
• Problems focusing
• Shortness of breath
• Feeling of tightness across forehead
• Throbbing in temples
• Unexplained panic, anxiety, or sense of dread
• Irritability/mood swings
• Mild nausea
• Unexplained claustrophobia
• Unexplained sense that there is a presence or something is watching (many “ghost houses” have been found to have had carbon monoxide leaks)

Moderate Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Symptoms

• Strong headache sometimes described as different than a migraine, tension, or dehydration headache)
• Dizziness
• Nausea
• Disorientation/confusion
• Hallucinations
• Increased rate of breathing

High Level Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Symptoms

• Vomiting
• Abnormal heart beat
• Convulsions/seizures
• Lower body temperature
• Shouting and incoherent behavior

Extreme Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Symptoms

• Collapse
• Seriously low blood pressure
• Heart and respiratory failure
• Unconsciousness
• Coma
• Death

Carbon monoxide poisoning symptoms Source:  www.carbon-monoxide-survivor.com

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The more common view (and what it states on our carbon monoxide detectors) is to place them around eye level. This allows for easy reading. Additionally, carbon monoxide is roughly the same density as nitrogen gas and less dense than oxygen. Plus, CO coming out of a heat source will generally be warm (and therefore even less dense) and so it is likely to rise up in the air. In practice, the densities are so close, and there is often a lot of convection currents in a room mixing the air, that there is not much difference in CO concentration. Different manufacturers actually recommend different placement based on the studies their specific company has done.

Given that my CO Detectors plug in to an outlet and I don’t have any outlets at eye level, that was not an option for me. So I instead focused on thinking about where the best placement was for my detectors. I took another look at the CO detector manual for additional placement instructions:

- place a detector near (but not in) the garage;
- to avoid nuisance alarms, do not place a detector within 5 feet of heating or cooking appliances;
- do not place detectors near windows, doors, fans, forced air registers or returns;
- do not place detectors behind things (including drapes) that may block the air flow.

Oops! I did not have one near the garage, I had one too close to my wood stove, and one behind a sofa outside my bedroom. So I moved my wood stove to the powder room near the garage, and I moved the one from behind the sofa to our master bathroom, since our bedroom outlets are all near forced air registers.

As I thought about the registers, I realized that we all sleep with our bedroom doors closed. If there were a CO problem and the furnace or A/C was on (as it is for most of the year), the CO would most likely enter our rooms through the vents rather than from our open, high-ceiling, vent-less hallway where the Co Detector was. So I moved the hallway detector into one of my children’s bedrooms and bought an additional one for my other child’s bedroom. The only detector I had gotten right was the one outside our furnace room!

Now I sleep better at night knowing that I’ve done my best to make sure it’s a safe night for the entire family.

By Sue Dorward

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