Carbon monoxide exposure can be very dangerous as it is hard to detect due to being colorless and odorless. Proper ventilation is very important, explains Monmouth Fire Chief Casey Rexroat:
“Carbon monoxide is a colorless and odorless gas that is a by product of unburnt fossil fuels like natural gas or gasoline. In your house, anything that runs of natural gas, a furnace, or your dryer, or your water heater, they burn that natural gas. If that gas is not burning completely clean, it can create a little bit of carbon monoxide that comes of it and that is why those appliances are vented and they have to be vented properly. If something happens with your equipment or with the ventilation and that carbon monoxide gets into your home and can make you sick very quickly.”
It is a law in Illinois to have carbon monoxide detectors in your home, located within 15 feet of every sleeping. Signs of carbon monoxide poisoning include fatigue, dizziness, tightness in the chest, headache, and nausea.
For more from Chief Rexroat, click here.
