 | "There's
an enormous ignorance of carbon monoxide poisoning."
Professor John Henry | Cooking
on gas but how safe are your appliances? |
Carbon Monoxide
poisoning Inside Out investigates a domestic menace which is poisoning
hundreds, even thousands of people in their own homes every year. It's
called carbon monoxide - and it could happen to you in your home.
It comes
from gas appliances which have been poorly fitted or haven't been properly serviced.
And some experts say many more people are in danger than is realised.
Hidden danger at home
Poisons
expert Professor John Henry says that carbon monoxide poisoning is under diagnosed
and under recognised. He believes that this is a real "iceberg phenomenon"
and that many people are suffering with the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning
without knowing about it.  | | Testing
for carbon monoxide using a special detector |
If gas burns
properly, it gives off carbon dioxide, otherwise known as CO2, which is not poisonous. If
it doesn't burn properly, it gives off carbon monoxide otherwise known as CO,
which is poisonous. Figures vary, but some claim that carbon monoxide kills
up to 50 people every year. Dr Ben Croxford from University College, London
has looked into this problem. He found that 8% of all homes have a risk
of carbon monoxide exposure.
Some gas fires and cookers never get serviced
or checked even in their entire lives, putting owners at risk. Real
risks Professor John Henry is a clinical toxicologist and used
to be a consultant at the National Poisons Unit. He says, "There's
an enormous ignorance of CO poisoning. "In the short term
it causes muzziness, headaches, tiredness, a 'Monday morning' feeling. "A
doctor might say go home, you've got flu. That could be the worst advice you could
have."
 | | Tip
of the iceberg - Professor John Henry expresses fears |
In extreme
cases people die through carbon monoxide poisoning. But what concerns people
like Professor Henry is there may be many people - even thousands - who are being
poisoned just a little bit at a time:
"A lot of people
think CO can either leave you dead or doesn't affect you. But many people are
in between. "Many people will put up with low level poisoning, headaches
- this will lead to brain damage, memory loss, personality change."
Shocking
results We took expert independent gas engineer Harry Rogers
on a quest to hunt down bad boilers and killer cookers in Chatham, Kent. He
inspected a street of houses with disturbing results. Of the first five
houses tested, Harry found a carbon monoxide problem in four of them.
Harry
found carbon monoxide coming from one cooker - not a lot, but enough to be worrying.
 | | Potentially
lethal - a grill in the student house examined |
"It's
potentially dangerous," says Harry. Harry also checked the appliances
in a student house and found that the oven was emitting CO at such a high level,
it was a serious risk to health. "There's the possibility of a fatality,"
says Harry. Student Kris Savonaventura is shocked, "I didn't realise
it would be so high - the CO emissions. I'll talk to the landlord". Harry
puts a warning sticker on the cooker and tells the students not to use it in any
circumstances. We also took Harry to another road in Heathfield, East Sussex.
Once again he found worrying evidence of carbon monoxide coming from
a cooker in a domestic house. Disastrous effect Siarl
Davies was a successful musician until he moved into a flat with a badly maintained
water heater. One night he fell asleep in his living room, the same room
as the boiler.
He remembers what happened the following morning:  | | Siarl
Davies - a life ruined by carbon monoxide poisoning |
"I
came to in the morning, paralysed, and I couldn't see. It took seven hours to
crawl across the room."
The boiler had been pumping out colourless,
odourless carbon monoxide. Siarl got a new boiler, but the replacement
was also faulty and he continued to breath a low level of CO for nine years. It
has left him seriously injured.
Siarl now runs a campaign and support
group called CO Survivors and he reckons it is only scratching the surface: "I
think carbon monoxide poisoning is very widespread."
Future
action...
CORGI is the body who set the standards for the installation
of gas appliances. There is no law requiring them to test for carbon monoxide.
Harry says, "I think that's shameful".
 | | Golden
glow or deadly appliance? Have you checked your CO? |
But CORGI
say that if an appliance is installed and maintained properly by one of their
engineers, then a test is quite simply unnecessary. Despite all the warnings,
many people seem to be unaware of what carbon monoxide is - which is why Corgi
has released warning films. But about half the population still has no information
on carbon monoxide at all, according to Ben Croxford. Professor Henry agrees
that, "There's an enormous ignorance of CO poisoning".
Clearly
it's important to make sure that all your gas appliances are regularly serviced
and checked. Otherwise you could become another victim of carbon monoxide
poisoning. Links relating to this story:
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听听Inside
Out - South East: Friday February 2, 2007
