Carbon Monoxide Safety Stats & Facts

Carbon Monoxide Facts:

  1. Carbon monoxide (CO) is an odorless, colorless gas that kills without warning. It claims the lives of hundreds of people every year and makes thousands more ill. Many household items including gas- and oil-burning furnaces, portable generators, and charcoal grills produce this poison gas.
  2. Occupations that are known to have greater risk for CO poisoning include jobs that require working around combustion sources such as engines and fires and include mechanics, firefighters, longshore workers, diesel engine and forklift operators, and tunnel or toll booth attendants. Other occupations that have been largely overlooked but also carry risk for CO exposure include those as varied as warehouse workers, who use propane or diesel forklifts, and restaurant workers, such as charcoal meat grillers and indoor barbeque workers.
  3. People in the United States die every year from CO produced by non-automotive consumer products. These products include malfunctioning fuel-burning appliances such as furnaces, ranges, water heaters and room heaters; engine-powered equipment such as portable generators; fireplaces; and charcoal that is burned in homes and other enclosed areas.

Stats

  • 13% of nonfatal carbon monoxide poisoning cases seen in U.S. emergency departments during a 3-year period were exposed at work.
  • CO exposure is the leading cause of fatality resulting from acute chemical inhalation among US workers.
  • More than 400 people in the U.S. die from unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
  • More than 20,000 visit the emergency room, and more than 4,000 others are hospitalized.
  • Carbon monoxide causes more deaths than any other toxic agent except alcohol.