Week 8: Carbon Monoxide Alarms and Exercise

Task: Make sure you have working carbon monoxide alarms installed in your home.  Also, get some exercise. 

As of Jan. 1, 2013, all residential dwelling units (single-family homes and multi-family units) in California are required by law to have properly installed carbon monoxide detectors.   The State of California website describes the dangers of carbon monoxide:

You can't see or smell carbon monoxide, but at high levels it can kill a person in minutes. Carbon monoxide (CO) is produced whenever any fuel such as gas, oil, kerosene, wood, or charcoal is burned. If appliances that burn fuel are maintained and used properly, the amount of CO produced is usually not hazardous. However, if appliances are not working properly or are used incorrectly, dangerous levels of CO can result. Hundreds of people die accidentally every year from CO poisoning caused by malfunctioning or improperly used fuel-burning appliances. Even more die from CO produced by idling cars. Fetuses, infants, elderly people, and people with anemia or with a history of heart or respiratory disease can be especially susceptible. Be safe. Practice the DO's and DON'Ts of carbon monoxide.

Here are tips from the same website about where to install your carbon monoxide detectors:

• Install CO alarms outside each sleeping area and on every level of the home including the basement. The CO alarm can warn you if too much CO is in your home.

• Keep CO alarms clear of dust and debris.

• Ensure CO alarms are plugged all the way into a working outlet, or if battery operated, have working batteries.

If you are renting, your landlord should install the detectors if it hasn't been done already.   And be aware that the mechanisms in these alarms deteriorate over time.  Check the manufacturer's instructions to see when yours should be replaced.

Note that carbon monoxide is odorless and is different from natural gas (made up primarily of methane), which is also odorless, but usually has a strong-smelling compound added to it by the gas company so that you will be able to smell a gas leak.  You won't be able to smell carbon monoxide.  It will just start to make you feel tired and nauseated or give you a headache.  People who die from carbon monoxide poisoning are often asleep when it happens and just never wake up.

Now, let's put this in perspective.  There is disagreement about how many people in the U.S. die from carbon monoxide poisoning each year, but it's somewhere in the neighborhood of 200-500.  In contrast, around 600,000 Americans die every year from heart disease.  So install your carbon monoxide detectors, but then stop worrying about that and start figuring out whether you are eating a healthy diet and getting enough exercise.  Also, read this article from the Harvard Alumni Magazine if you want to be amazed at what scientists are discovering about all the good things exercise does for your body and brain.