(Note to editors: News information is supplied in support of Combustion Gases/Carbon Monoxide Awareness Week, a portion of National Indoor Air Quality Action and Awareness Month, October 2004.)

Contacts: [Insert name, agency, telephone number]
For Immediate Release [Insert date]

Prevent Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

[Your Town] – You can’t see or smell carbon monoxide (CO), but at high levels it can kill a person in minutes. CO is produced whenever any fuel such as gas, oil, kerosene, wood, or charcoal is burned. This means that anytime you use your home’s furnace or boiler, kerosene or gas space heater, charcoal grill, wood stove or fireplace, and even your car, CO is being released. This becomes a problem when any of these items is improperly installed or not maintained correctly, or when there is inadequate ventilation.

Estimates vary, but CO kills up to 1,000 people in the U.S. every year. Every one of these deaths is preventable. Know how to prevent CO poisoning and recognize the symptoms.

To prevent CO poisoning: have your fuel-burning appliances inspected and serviced by a trained professional every year – either at the end of the heating season or at the beginning; make sure these appliances – furnace or boiler, gas stove or dryer, wood stove or fireplace – are vented to the outdoors and that chimneys and vent pipes are not blocked by an animal nest or other obstruction; avoid using an unvented space heater, or if you must, open a window in the room where it is burning, and never sleep in a room where an unvented heater is burning; never use a gas stove to heat a room; never idle a car in a garage, even if the door is open; and don’t use a gasoline-powered engine in an enclosed space.

Know the symptoms of CO poisoning: low levels of CO cause shortness of breath, mild nausea, mild headaches, and long-term health effects. At moderate levels CO causes severe headaches, mental confusion, nausea, and fainting. High levels kill.

Because health effects of low and moderate levels mimic the flu or food poisoning, many people don’t know they are experiencing CO poisoning. Fetuses, infants, elderly, and people with heart and respiratory illnesses are at high risk for the adverse health effects of CO.

If you experience symptoms you think could be from CO poisoning: get fresh air immediately – open doors and windows, turn off combustion appliances, and leave the house. Go to an emergency room and tell the doctor you suspect CO poisoning, which can be diagnosed with a blood test.

CO detectors are widely available in stores. For maximum effectiveness, these should be installed close to sleeping areas. A few recommendations about CO detectors: these should not be used as a replacement for proper use and maintenance of fuel-burning appliances. Detection devices in CO detectors eventually wear out, so make sure the one you buy sounds an alarm when it no longer works. Choose one that alerts you to both low and high CO levels. Your state may have specific requirements for CO detectors. Check with your local fire marshall. [Note to Educator: call a fire marshall to see if your state has requirements for CO detectors, and modify the last two sentences if it does. If not, delete them.]

For more information about CO and other combustion gases and indoor air quality and your health, contact your local [insert agency and phone number] and visit the Healthy Indoor Air for America’s Homes website: http://www.healthyindoorair.org.

PSA #1

PREVENT CARBON MONOXIDE POISONING

Carbon monoxide is a lethal gas produced whenever any fuel such as gas, oil, kerosene, wood, or charcoal is burned. Hundreds of people die every year from carbon monoxide poisoning. To prevent CO poisoning: have your fuel-burning appliances inspected and serviced by a trained professional every year – either at the end of the heating season or at the beginning; make sure these appliances – furnace or boiler, gas stove or dryer, wood stove or fireplace – are vented to the outdoors and that chimneys and vent pipes are not blocked by an animal nest or other obstruction; avoid using an unvented space heater, or if you must, open a window in the room where it is burning, and never sleep in a room where an unvented heater is burning; never use a gas stove to heat a room; never idle a car in a garage, even if the door is open; and don’t use a gasoline-powered engine in an enclosed space.

PSA #2

PROTECT YOUR FAMILY FROM CARBON MONOXIDE POISONING

Don’t become a needless carbon monoxide statistic this year by dying of carbon monoxide poisoning. Protect yourself and your family from this lethal gas by having your furnace or boiler, gas or oil water heater, gas dryer, and gas stove inspected and serviced by a professional technician every year. Install a carbon monoxide detector near your sleeping area, but don’t use this as a replacement for proper use and maintenance of fuel-burning appliances. Know the symptoms of CO poisoning: low levels of CO cause shortness of breath, mild nausea, mild headaches, and long-term health effects. At moderate levels CO causes severe headaches, mental confusion, nausea, and fainting. High levels kill. If you experience symptoms you think could be from CO poisoning: get fresh air immediately – open doors and windows, turn off combustion appliances, and leave the house. Go to an emergency room and tell the doctor you suspect CO poisoning, which can be diagnosed with a blood test.

For more information about carbon monoxide and other combustion gases, contact your local [insert agency and phone number] and visit the website for the program, Healthy Indoor Air for America’s Homes: www.healthyindoorair.org

Healthy Indoor Air for America’s Homes is a national consumer education program designed to develop awareness of home indoor air quality concerns and encourage people to take steps to improve the quality of air in their homes. Support and coordination of the program comes from a partnership of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Montana State University Extension Housing Program. Program Managers in each state are responsible for implementing the program.

Radio Ad/ Public Service Announcement

Script (30 seconds)...

Keeping your home free of dangerous pollutants like carbon monoxide can be as simple as regularly maintaining your heating system. [Local agency] reminds homeowners, landlords, and renters that if your gas, oil, or wood-fired space heating and water heating systems haven’t been serviced for this heating season, schedule that servicing now. This annual servicing ensures that those appliances will work at their maximum efficiency and get the most for your energy dollars. And, more importantly, any problems like cracked heat exchangers or blocked chimneys can be taken care of before they allow deadly carbon monoxide to get into your home.

Script (60 seconds)...

One of the most deadly pollutants that can build up in your house is carbon monoxide. This tasteless, colorless, odorless gas kills 500 people in their homes every year. What can you do to make sure you aren’t one of those people? It’s simple. Have combustion equipment like furnaces, boilers, water heaters, wood stoves, and fireplaces inspected every year. These inspections not only make equipment use fuel more efficiently and save you money, they also find things like cracked heat exchangers or blocked chimneys before they let carbon monoxide build up in a home. Make sure flues are open when a fireplace is in use. Don’t use ovens or gas ranges to heat your home, even during a power outage. Never burn charcoal inside a home or any enclosed space. Choose vented appliances whenever possible, but if you must use an unvented space heater, make sure the area is well ventilated. For more information on indoor air quality in your home, contact [local expert name, phone number, and office].

Dr. Joseph Laquatra
Associate Professor/Housing and Energy Specialist
Cornell University - CES