Envenenamiento of the carbon monoxide (CO)
Which is is?The carbon monoxide or the CO is a natural gas created by the incomplete fossil fuel combustion. It does not have any scent, any taste and any color, doing it extremely hard to detect. The effects of the carbon monoxide in human beings and animals can around mortal - be given of 40 people every year in the United Kingdom of the envenenamiento of the CO.
The fossil fuels are used extensively in our lives and they are used every day in our homes. The gas, the oil, the coal and of wood burned in boilers and motors even can emit the CO, like the used fossil fuels in water heaters, hornillas of oil, kitchens, open fires of the gas, fires and applications of the solid propellant. When these applications are installed correctly, maintained and maintained regularly, the occasion of the accumulation of the CO is reduced greatly. They expose to most of the victims of the envenenamiento of the CO to the gases that are not expressed suitably by the heating equipment.
If you use an application that escurr any fossil fuel you must make sure of:
- there is suitable ventilation;
- the application been has installed correctly;
- one stays annually;
- one stays well;
- you consider investing in a detector of the CO - its life could save.
Our bodies absorb quickly and easily the carbon monoxide. In fact our bodies will actively try to absorb the CO on oxygen where he is present, although the gas is fatal to us. If the CO is accumulated in the air that you breathe, you will begin to feel your effects. Once it is inhaled, the carbon monoxide combines with hemoglobina that takes of oxygen to form carboxyhemoglobin. Carboxyhemoglobin inhibits transference of oxygen around the hunger body, dying the organs of oxygen. This oxygen hunger affects particularly the heart, the brain and the central nervous system.
The symptoms are often influenza-like and its severity depends on the amount of inhaled carbon monoxide. Down the guide demonstrates the symptoms experienced by a healthy adult in the level of excellent exhibition. The CO is moderate in parts by million (PPM) in the referring thing to the air.
| PPM CO | The time exposed | Symptoms | ||
| 50 PPM | N/A | Level security according to the specified thing by the security and health executive (HSE). | ||
| 200 PPM | 2 - 3 hours | The slight headache, something can experience the slight vertigos, nausea, tenseness of the chest, tires, deficiency of the concentration, loss of the memory. | ||
| 400 PPM | 1 - 2 hours | Headache that gets worse to a severe headache with the prolonged exhibition, vertigos, nausea, fatigue, tenseness through the chest, loss of the memory, deficiency of the concentration. | ||
| 800 PPM | 45 minutes | Headache, vertigos, nausea, convulsions in the term of 45 minutes. Unconscious in the term of 2 hours. The death can happen in the term of 2 - 3 hours. | ||
| 1600 PPM | 20 minutes | Headache, vertigos, nausea, convulsions, unconsciousness. The death can happen in the term of 1 hour. | ||
| 3200 PPM | 5 - 10 minutes | Headache, vertigos, nausea, convulsions, unconsciousness. The death can happen in the term of 1 hour. | ||
| 6400 PPM | 1 - 2 minutes | Headache, vertigos, nausea, convulsions, unconsciousness. Death in approximately 30 minutes. | ||
| 12,800 PPM | 1 - 3 minutes | Death |
The people who poison themselves on a length of the time will often exhibit the symptoms that extend of headache, vertigos, nausea, fatigue, the deficiency of the concentration, the loss of the memory, disorientation, irritability and the tenseness through the chest. Then the level of the CO in the body increases the symptoms will become to include the confusion, the weakness, the deficiency of Co-arrangement, the deficiency of the balance, problems with the heart, edema cerebral, convulsions, the coma and the death.
The effects on the heart include beat of the fast heart and irregular, the arterial pressure that diminishes, arrhythmias cardiac, ventricular blocks of the heart, ectópicos blows, attacks of the heat and death. When according to the CO the envenenamiento of the brain can develop edema cerebral (swelling). Edema cerebral makes the cells of brain crush in one to with the swelling, thus killing the condensed cells. Edema cerebral related of the carbon monoxide can cause irreversible damage to the brain that alternadamente can carry out the nervous system.
The envenenamiento of the CO can lack-be diagnosed as influenza or gastroenteritis with its symptoms due to its effects on the brain and the nervous system can also be lack diagnosed like neurological or psychiatric disorder.
Who is in the risk?
Although any person who inhales an uncertain level of the gas of the CO will undergo the envenenamiento to some children of the degree (depending on the amount of CO in the air), the greater women and embarrassed they succumb more fast to the effects of the envenenamiento of the CO. Also it is suggested acute exhibition of the CO can give to an pregnant woman a non-lethal dose of the CO, but it can damage a boy of unborn and lead to the abortion. The symptoms of the exhibition of the domestic animals in one more a faster tariff and will demonstrate the same class of effects that the human beings (vertigos, nausea, fatigue, disorientation, irritability, weakness, deficiency of Co-arrangement, convulsions, comma, death).
The people who suffer already of a condition of the heart can succumb more quickly to the carbon monoxide, like those with problems of respiratory health. The smokers are in a higher risk because they will already have elevated levels of Carboxyhemoglobin in his blood.
Envenenamiento of the CO - the facts that surround applications by the gas
Many of people assume that "never it will happen to me". The occasions are that no, but that pay to take precautions to even make that risk less probably. If you know the facts that surround the envenenamiento by the CO, you can act to reduce your risk.
The facts down are taken "from a revision of the information of the incident of the carbon monoxide for 2000/2001". Published by the security and health executive, the glances of the revision in the incidents that imply the natural gas and the installed LPG tubes.
- The months of November, December and January (when the
system of the central heating it in their higher use) has the highest
tariffs for the envenenamiento of the CO. Station of heating
(which it begins with the first cold days of the autumn when the
system of the central heating first is put in use, to the time in
which return extinguished in the means occurs) is the period where
they happen most of the envenenamientos.
- The majority provides with gas the related envenenamiento
of the CO happen in homes where the owner is the renter (66% who
decides the figures the HSE). He is until you to make sure that
the applications are installed correctly by a competent installer, are
maintained well, regularly maintained (the applications of
installation and maintenance of all the people of the gas they have to
be CORGI registered by the law) and you must consider installing of
alarming of the CO.
- By law the proprietors must obtain all the applications
maintained annually, they maintain them maintained well (tube
including) and have security checks (certified of the security of the
gas) finished at least every 12 months. The proprietor must keep
a file from the security verifies fact and makes available the renter
if he is solicitd.
- He discloses himself that the most common failures that
they make applications produce the gas of the CO are a deficiency of
the failures of the maintenance and flue/terminal. The commonest
following one is envenenamiento caused by a deficiency of the
ventilation.
- The characteristics constructed pre 1945 considered 50% of
envenenamientos of the CO in the budgetary exercise between 2000 and
2001. 20% of envenenamientos happened in the characteristics
constructed as of 1946 - 1965, 20% in characteristics as of 1966-1980,
4% in characteristics as of the 1981 - 1991 and 3% of post 1992 of the
characteristics (3% were without classifying).
- People are more probable to be poisoned in her dormitory
or alive site.
- The central heating considers 80% of incidents and 87% of
the fatal and nonfatal deaths by year 2000/2001. The
applications implied in incidents extended of back boilers, of right
boilers of the floor, mounted boilers wall, mounted boilers wall of
combi, of units of air I warm up, kitchens, heaters of the space and
water heaters. The wall mounted boilers considered 34% of
incidents, the right boilers of the floor considered 25% and the wall
mounted boilers of combi considered 24%.
- In 59% of sites of the incident, the application had been
installed like new.
- The majority (76%) of applications implied in an incident
of the envenenamiento of the CO is open flued. When these
incidents happened, in 57% of cases the tube was not installed to the
appropriate standards.
Each one that has an application that the fossil fuels of the applications must (gas, oil, coal, wood):
- verify the color of the flame of the application (if it is ardent orange that is not working correctly and that could emit the gas of the CO);
- cause that his appliance(s) is maintained every year by somebody qualified one to work in them. All the people who work with the gas have to be CORGI registered by the law;
- maintain all the applications suitably - she verifies inside the box of boilers that the tube is not blocked, clear any ruin, obstructions or plants of the area of the tube;
- she cerciórese of which there is ventilation adapted in his home, to express not only outside any injurious gas but also to allow to oxygen and the fresh air in the home;
- invest in a detector of the CO that can recognize low levels of the CO and warn to him of any change;
- if you are a renter you you must have a security certificate. His proprietor has by law to make applications verify annually. Verify if his proprietor has fitted a detector of the CO;
- if you suffer of headache, the vertigos, nausea, fatigue, deficiency of the concentration, loss of the memory, disorientation, irritability and tenseness through the chest that you can suffer of the envenenamiento of the CO. Ask his doctor a test of CohB;
- in smooth cases of the envenenamiento of the CO, the victims simply recover when oxygen administered or brought in the fresh air. If you begin to feel the effects of the envenenamiento of the CO, obtains immediately outside the premises;
- she does not use the opened flames, the furnaces etc to only warm up his home - applications of the use for the intention that think;
- remember that he is not right his boilers that are in the risk, any thing that happens with the process of the combustion can produce the carbon monoxide. The water kitchens, heaters, hornillas of oil, the opened fires of the gas, fires, the motors and the applications of the solid propellant to name but some can all the product CO.
The protector of the gas is a service in line that allows proprietors to place its characteristics like security of the obedient gas. The registered characteristics will be made contact with enemy with every year that will remember when the renovation of the certificate of the gas must. it will be animated to the Not-obedient proprietors are placed whereas the renters can the "registry" their characteristics with the protector of the gas, that then will send the letters that animate to proprietors who use the facility. When a not-obedient proprietor is placed an adjustment will be done so that a registered installer CORGI visits the characteristic. The installers of the gas can also assemble the protector of the gas to the advantage of the work of the check of the security of the generated gas of the Web site.
In order to discover he satisfies plus the visit www.gas-shield.com
To find a installer registered CORGI
He is illegal to work in the gas unless they place to him with CORGI (advice of the registered installers of the gas). They place to many members of IPHE with CORGI, you can look for you stop a registered plumber IPHE chascando here (if they place them with CORGI that he will indicate that they can work in the gas). You can also use the Web site of CORGI to look for for registered installers, to go please to www.corgi-gas.com or you can telephone 01256 372200 or write to 1 Elmwood, park of business of Chineham, track of Crockford, Baisingstoke, Hants, RG24 8WG.