By Scott Skrivanek
Some of the greatest dangers around your home may be unseen, such as gas leaks, carbon monoxide and radon. But avoiding these unseen dangers and alerting your family to danger can be as simple as checking your appliances regularly and purchasing a few affordable alarms.
Leaking gas can lead to asphyxiation – the inability to breathe leading to suffocation – as well as dangerous explosions. Luckily, commercial gasses, such as the kind of gas your stove or heater uses, have a strong odor added to them so you can smell leaks. If you do smell a gas leak in your home, you need to act quickly – first, get out of your home as quickly as possible and dial 911 and your gas company immediately from outside to report the leak. If you live in an apartment building or near other homes, alert your neighbors so they can leave too.
Take care not to trigger an explosion. Put out all open flames like matches, lighters, candles, and even cigarettes, that could set the gas on fire. An electrical current could trigger an explosion, so avoid turning any appliances on or off, including lights. If you know where the leak is coming from and can shut off the gas supply, do so at once.
Carbon monoxide is an odorless gas and the most common cause of death by poison in the U.S., killing almost 4,000 people a year. It is one of the most dangerous household poisons because often people don’t know it’s there until it’s too late. Carbon monoxide comes from your furnace, boiler, hot water heater, oven, wood stove, fireplace, or anything that burns fuel. The best way to protect yourself and your family is to buy a carbon monoxide (sometimes referred to as CO) alarm for your home. If you live in a home that is two stories or more, you should consider purchasing two or more alarms.
Here are some simple steps to avoid CO poisoning in your home:
- Make sure your fireplace, chimney, furnace and gas water heater are inspected and cleaned yearly
- Don’t block heating or external vents
- Never use your oven or stovetop to heat your home
- Never use gas fireplaces or space heaters as main heating sources
- Turn off ovens, space heaters and other heating appliances before going to bed or leaving your home
- Never use grills inside the home in a closed space
- Never use gas generators inside the home and follow the manufacturer’s instructions about placement outside and away from your home
- Never keep a car running inside an enclosed space like a garage or shed
Signs of CO poisoning include headaches, dizziness, nausea, confusion, weakness, vision or hearing impairment, and drowsiness. If you notice these symptoms and suspect that carbon monoxide is the cause, you should get fresh air immediately and dial 911.
With the exception of smoking, studies have shown that radon causes more lung cancer than anything else in the United States. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that household exposure to radon causes up to 30,000 lung cancer deaths per year. Radon is a radioactive gas that comes from the earth and rock beneath your home, well-water, and building materials. Like CO, radon is an odorless gas that’s hard to detect. Also like carbon monoxide, the easiest way to protect you and your household from radon is to buy a detector to measure the levels of radon in your home. Both short-term and long-term detection devices are available.
For more information about radon, and where to purchase radon detection devices, visit www.epa.gov.
Scott Skrivanek is the Life Safety & Emergency Management Coordinator at Hackensack Meridian Health Raritan Bay Medical Center.
