Understanding the Risks of Carbon Monoxide Exposure

Anna is an employee of ours here at SERVPRO of Evergreen Park / South Chicago City, you can see in the video here that recently had a potentially dangerous run-in with carbon monoxide in her home. The troublesome thing about her tale of poor ventilation in the kitchen area of her home is that this is a story that continues to repeat itself again and again with families all over the greater Chicago area. The more that you know about carbon monoxide (CO), the safer you and your family can be.

While our employee had been cooking for several hours with a fuel powered range oven in a poorly ventilated kitchen, any appliance or equipment supplied by gas or liquid ignitions can produce dangerous levels of CO if not properly accounted for and adequate ventilation measures are in place.

Fortunately for Anna, her smoke alarm also detected carbon monoxide in the environment, which alerted her that her home had reached dangerous levels for human exposure. CO is commonly referred to as the “silent killer” because it is virtually undetectable to your eyes, nose, and mouth. One could easily become over-encumbered without even realizing it.

CO is an odorless, tasteless, invisible fume that can fill up an enclosed room in a very brief time. The danger of this gas is its ability to displace oxygen in your blood stream. This effectively starves out the organs in your body of the oxygen that they need to function properly. Overexposure can happen quickly, causing the affected person to lose consciousness and suffocate.

We at SERVPRO of Evergreen Park / South Chicago City encourage every person to install carbon monoxide detectors in their homes and commercial buildings to prevent a potential tragedy. These implements are as easy to install as traditional smoke alarms, and most are dual units offering detection of both smoke and CO simultaneously.