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Carbon monoxide (CO) is a highly toxic gas released when fuels are burned. It is
colourless and odourless and is, therefore, very difficult for human senses to perceive.
The first warning symptoms of the presence of CO in the air are usually headaches
and nausea.
A dangerous amount of carbon monoxide can result from the incomplete burning of
carbon-based materials, e.g. solid fuels (such as wood, coal, coke), liquid fuels (such
as oil and benzene) and gas fuels (such as natural gas, town gas and liquefied petroleum
gas (LPG)). This can have one or more of the following causes:
What is carbon monoxide?
The heating device is defective or has been inadequately maintained
The ventilation of the room is inadequate
A chimney is partly or completely blocked
Symptoms:
Fatigue, headaches, dizziness, nausea, general pains in the chest
or stomach area
Carbon monoxide binds the haemoglobin in the blood which reduces the oxygen
transported in the body. Highly concentrated CO leads to death in only minutes.
35 ppm
200 ppm
400 ppm
800 ppm
1600 ppm
6400 ppm
Effects of carbon monoxide poisoning
The highest permissible CO value over a period of 8 hours
Light headache, fatigue, dizziness, nausea after 2 to 3 hours
Headache in the area of the forehead within 1 to 2 hours,
risk of death after 3 hours
Dizziness, nausea and convulsions within 45 minutes,
loss of consciousness within 2 hours, death within 2 to 3 hours
Headaches, dizziness and nausea within 20 minutes,
death within 1 hour
Headaches, dizziness and nausea within 1 to 2 minutes,
death within 10 to 15 minutes
Rooms in which a carbon monoxide alarm must be installed
Ideally, a carbon monoxide alarm should be installed in every room with a combustion
device.
If there are combustion devices in more than one room, however, and there are only
a limited number of alarms or just one alarm available, the following points should be
taken into account in the selection of the best location:
If there is a combustion device in a room in which you sleep, you should install
the alarm in this room.
