Carbon monoxide

1. What is carbon monoxide?
2. How does carbon monoxide affect the human body?
3. What gives off carbon monoxide in your home?
4. How do you check for carbon monoxide without a detector?
5. What are two warning signs of carbon monoxide poisoning?
6. What causes high CO2 levels in house?
7. What happens when your carbon dioxide levels are too high?
8. Does carbon monoxide smell like rotten eggs?
9. How long does it take for carbon monoxide to get out of your body?
10. Can dogs smell carbon monoxide?
11. Can you get carbon monoxide poisoning with windows open?
12. What to do if carbon monoxide alarm goes off and then stops?
13. Why would your carbon monoxide alarm go off?
14. Can my phone detect carbon monoxide?
15. How do you test for carbon monoxide in the air?

What is carbon monoxide?

Carbon monoxide (CO) is an odorless, colorless gas formed by the incomplete combustion of fuels. When people are exposed to CO gas, the CO molecules will displace the oxygen in their bodies and lead to poisoning.

How does carbon monoxide affect the human body?

Carbon monoxide is harmful when breathed because it displaces oxygen in the blood and deprives the heart, brain and other vital organs of oxygen. Large amounts of CO can overcome you in minutes without warning — causing you to lose consciousness and suffocate. ... CO poisoning can be reversed if caught in time.

What gives off carbon monoxide in your home?

Household appliances, such as gas fires, boilers, central heating systems, water heaters, cookers, and open fires which use gas, oil, coal and wood may be possible sources of CO gas. It happens when the fuel does not burn fully. ... Fumes from certain paint removers and cleaning fluids can cause CO poisoning.

How do you check for carbon monoxide without a detector?

Sooty or brownish-yellow stains around the leaking appliance. Stale, stuffy, or smelly air, like the smell of something burning or overheating. Soot, smoke, fumes, or back-draft in the house from a chimney, fireplace, or other fuel burning equipment. The lack of an upward draft in chimney flue.

What are two warning signs of carbon monoxide poisoning?

The most common symptoms of CO poisoning are headache, dizziness, weakness, upset stomach, vomiting, chest pain, and confusion. CO symptoms are often described as “flu-like.” If you breathe in a lot of CO it can make you pass out or kill you.

What causes high CO2 levels in house?

Avoid Small, Crowded Areas

In tight areas with a lot of people, the collective exhalations produced by the room's occupants will make the CO2 levels skyrocket. While this mainly applies to school classrooms and office meeting rooms, overcrowded homes with poor ventilation can also experience high CO2 conditions.

What happens when your carbon dioxide levels are too high?

Hypercapnia is excess carbon dioxide (CO2) buildup in your body. The condition, also described as hypercapnia, hypercarbia, or carbon dioxide retention, can cause effects such as headaches, dizziness, and fatigue, as well as serious complications such as seizures or loss of consciousness.

Does carbon monoxide smell like rotten eggs?

Does Carbon Monoxide Smell Like Rotten Eggs? No! Some myths surround ways to detect carbon monoxide, such as identifying the strong scent of rotten eggs (like a natural gas leak). Carbon monoxide gas is odorless—it cannot be smelled.

How long does it take for carbon monoxide to get out of your body?

The half-life of carboxyhemoglobin in fresh air is approximately 4 hours. To completely flush the carbon monoxide from the body requires several hours, valuable time when additional damage can occur.

Can dogs smell carbon monoxide?

Dogs aren't able to sense or smell carbon monoxide, so they're not able to alert their owners to its presence before it happens or when the first leak of carbon monoxide is evident, but it is true that dogs will be affected by carbon monoxide much quicker than humans.

Can you get carbon monoxide poisoning with windows open?

Open windows with the draft going OUT the window can pull carbon monoxide into the bedroom. CO (carbon monoxide) is a colorless, odorless, tasteless gas. At room temperature it's slightly lighter than air. If it's in your bedroom, you've got problems, whether you have a window slightly open or not.

What to do if carbon monoxide alarm goes off and then stops?

Call 911 when your CO detector goes off. Emergency responders are trained to identify and treat the symptoms of CO poisoning. Firefighters are also equipped to find the source of Carbon Monoxide leaks and to stop them.

Why would your carbon monoxide alarm go off?

Your carbon monoxide alarm is going off for one of the following reasons: It is doing its job properly and detects CO pollution in the air. It is a false alarm caused by other household items. The detector is malfunctioning or the batteries need changing.

Can my phone detect carbon monoxide?

The Carbon Monoxide Detection Systems Checklist mobile app inspects Carbon Monoxide Detection Systems using an iPad, iPhone, Android device, or a Windows desktop.

How do you test for carbon monoxide in the air?

There are two basic steps to an ambient CO check: 1) turn on the analyzer in fresh air and allow the 60 second CO-auto-zero-cycle to complete, and 2) with the probe disconnected, verify safe levels of ambient CO nearby the appliance and around the residence—as a courtesy to the homeowner.