Carbon Monoxide Awareness Encouraged
Carbon Monoxide Awareness Encouraged
The Carbon Monoxide Awareness charity recently launched their 8th annual National Carbon Monoxide Awareness Week at the House of Lords. At the launch, mum of four and founder of the charity Lynn Griffiths spoke passionately about the dangers of the gas.
Griffiths, who along with her family suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning for more than a decade, finds it incredible that people are still ignorant to its potential dangers. She said: “It is shocking that despite living in the information age, people still don’t realise that carbon monoxide is a colourless, odourless highly toxic gas that can kill in under three minutes.”[1]
Carbon monoxide
A highly dangerous gas, carbon monoxide is produced from the lack of combustion from any hydrocarbon fuel, such as coal, oil or petrol. Falling subject to carbon monoxide poisoning provides a grave risk to health. Those who experience just a low level of carbon monoxide poisoning can develop chronic health issues. The Carbon Monoxide Awareness charity is trying to raise awareness so that more people can identify early stages of poisoning and therefore do all they can to prevent serious injuries or fatalities.
The charity is urging people to protect themselves and their families by having their fuel-burning equipment serviced every 12 months. In addition, people are being advised to sweep their chimney at least twice a year and to install a carbon monoxide alarm in the relevant places in their residence.
Plea
A drop in donations during the past year has led to the charity being unable to deliver their message to as much of the UK as is normally possible. With this in mind, Griffiths is appealing to landlords and the media to give their support to the National Carbon Monoxide Awareness Week: “Please don’t let someone you know, love, work with or live close by to fall victim to this silent killer. It is absolutely vital that people start to understand the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning and, most importantly, how we can all protect our homes and families from this silent invisible killer.”[1]
[1] http://www.landlords.org.uk/news-campaigns/news/carbon-monoxide-awareness-charity