Learn About The Dangers Of CO Gas
Carbon Monoxide is deadly and as it is odorless, tastless and colorless it is impossible to detect without some kind of device or alarm.
It is produced through incomplete combustion and it becomes deadly when the by product is inhaled that it becomes a danger to humans and animals.
The severity of the danger is dependent on the concentration of the gas in the air inhaled. A level of 12800 ppm will result in unconsciousness after 2 or 3 breaths and death in less than 3 minutes. This level of 12800 ppm equates to a concentration in the air of only 1.28%. This is a very small amount so you can see how dangerous this toxic gas is.
Levels of CO leaked into the air vary depending on how drastic problems with appliances are. You could be exposed to some very low levels and not be aware of it. However, there are always some effects with inhaling carbon monoxide. At concentration levels of 35 ppm or 0.0035% you can expect to experience headaches and dizziness when inhaling constantly for 6 to 8 hours. This can be an indicator for you if you suffer with alot of headaches and dizziness in your home. If you have a continuous frontal headaches that are dull then try getting a some kind of alarm to monitor your home, ventilate well and get an expert to check your appliances.
At a slightly higher level of 100 ppm or 0.01% you will get the symptoms above but in a quicker time, more like around 3 hours. If the concentration is doubled to 200 ppm or 0.02% then the headaches comes on fast and you will have a loss of judgement, double it again and you will have a headache in around one hour.
Anything above this level is beginning to get very dangerous. At 800 ppm or 0.08% you will experience dizziness, sickness and convulsions within 45 minutes. When the concentration reaches 1600 ppm or 0.16% you will get headaches, nausea and dizziness in under 20minutes and will be dead in less than 2 hours. At 3200 ppm or 0.32%, death is in under 30 minutes and 6400mm or 0.64% in under 20 minutes.
You can see how deadly it is and with no way to detect it other than with an alarm, that alarm becomes a potential life saver.
In our homes, we can be exposed to extremely low levels without experiencing some of the more 
deadly symptoms or even the headaches or nausea. If we are exposed to very low levels over a long period of time then we can begin to suffer from depression and memory loss. This long term exposure to lower concentrations also have the potential to shorten our live span due to the damage caused to the heart, such as faster heart rate and low blood pressure, by inhaling carbon monoxide. It will also attack the central nervous system, among some the symptoms being seizures, confusion, dizziness and hallucinations.
Infact, some stories of haunted houses and sightings of ghosts have actually been from people suffering from exposure to CO which has caused hallucinations.
Women who are pregnant have to be especially careful to avoid exposure to the gas. The fetus can suffer from a decrease in oxygen and due to being more sensitive can suffer a more severe poisoning in comparision to those inhaling directly.
For those who are suffering from this type of poisoning and survived, treatment involves inhalation of oxygen to help shorten the half life of the gas.
A detector needs to placed in the home of any potential gas leak. No matter how new household appliances are, things go wrong or are badly installed and needless incidents occur. Think about yourself and your family and make that small investment for your home.
