Monday, March 19, 2007
Spinach, Peanut Butter, Lunchbox Lead What's Next?
(Media-Newswire.com) - With National Poison Prevention Week approaching next week, the Ruth A. Lawrence Poison and Drug Information Center is sharing tips that'll keep you and your family safer this year. This has been a year where it seems nothing is harmless, be it the peanut butter sandwich or the lunchbox itself, said Ruth A. Lawrence, M.D., the medical director of the center, which serves the 12-county Finger Lakes area. People are increasingly concerned about food poisoning, lead poisoning and carbon monoxide poisoning, in addition to the more common poisons that are routinely stored under kitchen sinks, medicine cabinets, or in the garage.
Family escapes danger after boy hears CO alarm
ONEONTA _ Kaleb Prentice needed to get up and get something to drink late Tuesday night.
Kaleb, a second-grader at Riverside Elementary School, woke up at about 11:30 p.m. and heard the family’s carbon-monoxide detector going off.
Star photo by Julie Lewis Kaleb Prentice, 8, holds the carbon-monoxide detector Wednesday as his mother, Tera Aikens, holds Ava, 2, and Abby, 5 months, at the entrance to the basement of the family’s home on Mountainview Avenue in Oneonta.
Not knowing what it was, he woke up his mother, Tera Aikens.
A problem with a pellet stove in the basement led to a carbon-monoxide leak. Carbon monoxide is an odorless, colorless gas that can poison people or lead to death.
"It was very high," Aikens said. "It was three times the regular limits."
Kaleb said his mother told him that the beeping sound he heard was probably just the television, but he knew it wasn’t.
"It was weird," said Kaleb, who is 8 years old. "I didn’t know what was going on."
Aikens tried changing the battery. When it kept going off, she called 911 and got the rest of the family _ Kaleb, 2-year-old Ava and 5-month-old Abby _ out of the house on Mountainview Drive and into the family van.
Aikens said she and her husband, Robert, have talked to Kaleb about the alarms, and he’s had some safety classes at school. Her husband wasn’t home Tuesday night because he is taking classes outside the area.
Oneonta Fire Capt. Jeffrey Walshe said nobody needed to be taken to the hospital. Firefighters cleaned out the pellet stove and vented the house to get the levels back to normal.
Problems with heating systems have led to more calls for possible carbon-monoxide poisoning, Walshe said.
"The (carbon-monoxide) detectors do their job," he said Wednesday.
Aikens said the carbon-monoxide detector was in the house when the family moved in. The pellet stove has been there for about two years.
"We’ve never had a problem with it," Aikens said.
Bette Aikens, Tera Aikens’ mother-in-law, said she was very proud of Kaleb _ and his mother.
"It’s great that he knew to wake her up," Bette Aikens said. "Some kids would have said, Oh well,’ and gone back to bed."
Tera Aikens took the children to her mother-in-law’s house to sleep Tuesday night.
Firefighters told her it was safe to sleep in the house after they vented it, but she didn’t want to take any risks.
"I was very proud of Tera, that she knew to call the firemen," Bette Aikens said. "They’re great. They’re very good."
Kaleb said the firefighters came with a "big truck."
"It was really cool," he said.
Everyone seems to be OK, Aikens said, and the house is fine. She said she talked to the children’s pediatrician, who told her they didn’t need to come in unless they were acting sleepy or showed other signs of carbon-monoxide poisoning.
Kaleb, a second-grader at Riverside Elementary School, woke up at about 11:30 p.m. and heard the family’s carbon-monoxide detector going off.
Star photo by Julie Lewis Kaleb Prentice, 8, holds the carbon-monoxide detector Wednesday as his mother, Tera Aikens, holds Ava, 2, and Abby, 5 months, at the entrance to the basement of the family’s home on Mountainview Avenue in Oneonta.
Not knowing what it was, he woke up his mother, Tera Aikens.
A problem with a pellet stove in the basement led to a carbon-monoxide leak. Carbon monoxide is an odorless, colorless gas that can poison people or lead to death.
"It was very high," Aikens said. "It was three times the regular limits."
Kaleb said his mother told him that the beeping sound he heard was probably just the television, but he knew it wasn’t.
"It was weird," said Kaleb, who is 8 years old. "I didn’t know what was going on."
Aikens tried changing the battery. When it kept going off, she called 911 and got the rest of the family _ Kaleb, 2-year-old Ava and 5-month-old Abby _ out of the house on Mountainview Drive and into the family van.
Aikens said she and her husband, Robert, have talked to Kaleb about the alarms, and he’s had some safety classes at school. Her husband wasn’t home Tuesday night because he is taking classes outside the area.
Oneonta Fire Capt. Jeffrey Walshe said nobody needed to be taken to the hospital. Firefighters cleaned out the pellet stove and vented the house to get the levels back to normal.
Problems with heating systems have led to more calls for possible carbon-monoxide poisoning, Walshe said.
"The (carbon-monoxide) detectors do their job," he said Wednesday.
Aikens said the carbon-monoxide detector was in the house when the family moved in. The pellet stove has been there for about two years.
"We’ve never had a problem with it," Aikens said.
Bette Aikens, Tera Aikens’ mother-in-law, said she was very proud of Kaleb _ and his mother.
"It’s great that he knew to wake her up," Bette Aikens said. "Some kids would have said, Oh well,’ and gone back to bed."
Tera Aikens took the children to her mother-in-law’s house to sleep Tuesday night.
Firefighters told her it was safe to sleep in the house after they vented it, but she didn’t want to take any risks.
"I was very proud of Tera, that she knew to call the firemen," Bette Aikens said. "They’re great. They’re very good."
Kaleb said the firefighters came with a "big truck."
"It was really cool," he said.
Everyone seems to be OK, Aikens said, and the house is fine. She said she talked to the children’s pediatrician, who told her they didn’t need to come in unless they were acting sleepy or showed other signs of carbon-monoxide poisoning.
Portable generators pose threat outside
MADISON, Wis., March 15 (UPI) -- Portable gasoline generators used during power outages and after hurricanes can pose a major safety risk for even the most careful U.S. consumer.
A study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine examined sources of carbon monoxide poisonings in Florida during the 2004 hurricane season.
"We found a number of people who made a point of placing their generators outside their homes were poisoned. Because of the amount of carbon monoxide these devices emit, they may pose a threat even when located outside," lead study author David Van Sickle of the University of Wisconsin in Madison said in a statement.
Portable generators should be located in a dry area as far away from the home as possible, but while generators need to be used outdoors in a well-ventilated area, there is no agreed-upon distance on how far from buildings they need to be, according to the study.
Van Sickle advises using an extra-long extension cord to keep the generator farther from the house and to always have a carbon monoxide detector in the home.
A study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine examined sources of carbon monoxide poisonings in Florida during the 2004 hurricane season.
"We found a number of people who made a point of placing their generators outside their homes were poisoned. Because of the amount of carbon monoxide these devices emit, they may pose a threat even when located outside," lead study author David Van Sickle of the University of Wisconsin in Madison said in a statement.
Portable generators should be located in a dry area as far away from the home as possible, but while generators need to be used outdoors in a well-ventilated area, there is no agreed-upon distance on how far from buildings they need to be, according to the study.
Van Sickle advises using an extra-long extension cord to keep the generator farther from the house and to always have a carbon monoxide detector in the home.
Alarms save lives
Shirley Foley awoke Saturday morning around 5:30, with high-pitched alarms blaring. Something smelled like burnt plastic. She woke her neighbors in the two-family house in Charlestown.
Fire officials say it was a good thing. Underground high voltage power lines had ignited, possibly because they had become wet and had shorted, and were sending lethal amounts of carbon monoxide into the homes. Carbon monoxide monitors in Foley’s building went off.
"It was a pretty serious situation," Foley said. "Thank God we’re all OK, and thank God we had the monitors. We could have lost people."
Caroline Allen, a spokeswoman for NStar, said Saturday’s incident was rare and was probably caused by wet weather that allowed water to seep into underground cables and act as a conductor, shorting wires whose insulating layer had probably worn through. The underground fire sent carbon monoxide into nearby homes through ducts and pipes. It also caused a power outage that affected about 25 houses and took about 24 hours to fix.
"This is not something we hear about all the time," Allen said. "Because there were all these factors came into play at one time, it looks like that’s what caused the carbon monoxide to travel through the conduit. The good news in this case was that they had a carbon monoxide detector."
Fire officials say it was a good thing. Underground high voltage power lines had ignited, possibly because they had become wet and had shorted, and were sending lethal amounts of carbon monoxide into the homes. Carbon monoxide monitors in Foley’s building went off.
"It was a pretty serious situation," Foley said. "Thank God we’re all OK, and thank God we had the monitors. We could have lost people."
Caroline Allen, a spokeswoman for NStar, said Saturday’s incident was rare and was probably caused by wet weather that allowed water to seep into underground cables and act as a conductor, shorting wires whose insulating layer had probably worn through. The underground fire sent carbon monoxide into nearby homes through ducts and pipes. It also caused a power outage that affected about 25 houses and took about 24 hours to fix.
"This is not something we hear about all the time," Allen said. "Because there were all these factors came into play at one time, it looks like that’s what caused the carbon monoxide to travel through the conduit. The good news in this case was that they had a carbon monoxide detector."
TWO KO'D AS MANHOLE FUMES SEEP INTO APTS.
March 19, 2007 -- Deadly doses of poisonous carbon monoxide spewing from a burning Con Ed manhole nearly killed two women after it spread across a sidewalk and seeped into their Brooklyn homes yesterday.
The potentially lethal fumes sickened seven other people and forced some 300 residents into the streets for hours, fire officials said.
The two seriously injured women were found unconscious by firefighters going door to door along 55th Street in Sunset Park.
One of them was found in a brownstone basement; the other in the third-floor apartment of another building.
At least one resident insisted the fire had burned for 12 hours before Con Ed took steps to put it out, a claim the utility denied.
Con Ed spokeswoman Joy Faber could not say why so much carbon monoxide was emitted without it being detected earlier, and declined to comment on whether the thousands of manholes monitored by the utility pose an ongoing risk to New Yorkers .
Fire Battalion Chief William Tanzosh said the toxic fumes in some locations on the affected streets topped 133 times the safe level for carbon-monoxide emissions.
Among the seven people sickened were two FDNY paramedics, who rescued the two unconscious women shortly after receiving a 911 call at around noon.
"The only reason the unconscious people were found this quickly was because of [a 911 caller] who had a carbon-monoxide detector," Tanzosh said.
The potentially lethal fumes sickened seven other people and forced some 300 residents into the streets for hours, fire officials said.
The two seriously injured women were found unconscious by firefighters going door to door along 55th Street in Sunset Park.
One of them was found in a brownstone basement; the other in the third-floor apartment of another building.
At least one resident insisted the fire had burned for 12 hours before Con Ed took steps to put it out, a claim the utility denied.
Con Ed spokeswoman Joy Faber could not say why so much carbon monoxide was emitted without it being detected earlier, and declined to comment on whether the thousands of manholes monitored by the utility pose an ongoing risk to New Yorkers .
Fire Battalion Chief William Tanzosh said the toxic fumes in some locations on the affected streets topped 133 times the safe level for carbon-monoxide emissions.
Among the seven people sickened were two FDNY paramedics, who rescued the two unconscious women shortly after receiving a 911 call at around noon.
"The only reason the unconscious people were found this quickly was because of [a 911 caller] who had a carbon-monoxide detector," Tanzosh said.
The Long Haul
[This one was written completely by yours truly. It's a compilation of thoughts that I have come across over the time I have been studying CO and CO exposure. Enjoy!]
Truck drivers of all kinds confront many dangers on the roads today. From bad weather to bad drivers, some days it seems like the world is conspiring against you to keep you from delivering your load on time. While road crews shutting down 2 out of 3 lanes on a 9 degree down grade, blown tires sending rubber shrapnel everywhere, and just getting plain old tired are very tangible hazards, there is another that is very easy to overlook. It is nearly impossible to detect with your five senses and potentially more dangerous than anything else out there. This threat is carbon monoxide.
The trucking industry employs over 9 million Americans and 227,000 Canadians, making it one of the top occupations in both countries. In fact, according to Statistics Canada, the occupation of truck driver is the most frequently cited among Canadian men. These almost 10 million highly skilled and constantly tested drivers work on average 60 hours a week, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, to contribute to a revenue stream approaching the trillions of dollars every year. With so many drivers on the road, in garages, and at fuel stations, one would think that carbon monoxide exposure would be a top priority. In fact it is exactly the opposite. A blown tire, dead battery, or faulty air line, while all still dangerous, vastly outweigh CO exposure as a top worry among drivers. Truckinfo.net says 51% percent of truckers are worried about shredding a tire compared to less than 1% concerned about carbon monoxide poisoning. This is not because truck drivers are uneducated, rather, it is due to a lack of awareness about what carbon monoxide is, how often exposure can happen, and how dangerous it can really be. This awareness should be provided by OSHA, the EPA, and our employers and employer organizations, but sometimes unfortunately it is not.
Carbon monoxide is an odorless, colorless, tasteless, and highly toxic gas. Because of this, it can kill you before you are even aware it is there. Carbon monoxide is produced by incomplete oxidation of carbon in combustion. Simply put, CO can be produced by virtually any source of combustion, from vehicle engines and poorly burning or improperly vented kerosene and gas heaters or generators, to cigarettes, faulty furnaces, campfires, and charcoal grilles among hundreds of other sources. For most truck drivers, the greatest threat is from diesel exhaust, whether exposure happens inside the cab of a truck from a cracked header, or outside the vehicle by running it inside a garage.
Carbon monoxide works by combining reversibly with hemoglobin in the bloodstream, creating carboxyhemoglobin. This causes a reduction in the amount of oxygen your blood can carry to the tissues of your body. At low concentrations, an exposed person may experience flu-like symptoms like fatigue, headache, nausea, dizziness, and irritability. As exposure increases, symptoms such as impaired brain function, confusion, chest pain, and eventually unconsciousness set in. Continued exposure at very high concentrations can be fatal within minutes.
Therefore, OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration), NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health), ACGIH (American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists), and other agencies issued Permissible Exposure Limits for carbon monoxide. These exposure limits are expressed in terms of ppm (parts per million) which basically means one part CO in one million parts air. The OSHA limit is 50 ppm as a time-weighted average, the NIOSH limit is 35 ppm as a time-weighted average with a 200 ppm ceiling value, and the ACGIH limit is 25 ppm as a time-weighted average for a normal 8-hour workday or 40-hour work week, which we all know would virtually be a vacation for most truckers. These limits were established because even at these low concentrations, people will begin to see the symptoms of CO poisoning and some people are more sensitive to exposure than others. To put this in perspective, if you were to open your window on the highway in fairly heavy, slow-moving traffic, you could easily be exposed to somewhere between 10 ppm and 45 ppm of CO. You may experience a headache (which you most likely would attribute to frustration over the traffic conditions), mild dizziness, or mild nausea. Now imagine a truck driver being exposed to those conditions 10 or more hours a day, 6 days a week. Fortunately, we do get some open road time, and if the truck is not contributing to the exposure, the clean fresh air will help clear out the carbon monoxide that is present. But, you can see how chronic CO exposure at this level can become problematic, not to mention what would happen if a crack in your exhaust header, a near worst-case scenario, caused diesel exhaust to pour into the cab of your truck. The result could be catastrophic to both the driver and the other vehicles on the road.
Now don’t get me wrong, I am not in the business of trying to scare people, rather, I am in the business of educating those of you who are not aware of this potential danger. It is a real possibility, and every effort should be made to avoid excessive CO exposure. Fortunately there are readily available products out there that can alert you if you are in imminent threat of carbon monoxide exposure and poisoning. Your easiest line of defense is a CO detector that can warn you when exposure occurs so you can minimize it and avoid it.
Carbon monoxide detectors come in all shapes and sizes, all for various applications, from plug-in models for the home, to high tech, industrial grade instruments for more stringent laboratory and occupational environments. With all the choices in CO detectors out there, it is hard to tell what to look for when you are going to make that purchase. Here are the most important things to consider when buying a carbon monoxide detector:
1. Cost. I know the number one concern for a truck driver is cost, especially those of you who are owner-operators. Every dollar spent is one more dollar out of your or your company’s pocket. Now CO detectors can range in price from $20 to almost $1000 for the super advanced models, and many times, you truly do get what you pay for. A truck driver doesn’t necessarily need all the bells and whistles on a $1000 model, so take that out of the equation completely. Now on the low end you are looking at a detector with limited capabilities, sometimes not alarming until well over the recommended exposure limits, if at all, and most of those “cheap” detectors will also alarm if they come in contact with something as harmless as water vapor. Look for a detector in the $100 to $200 range. There are many out there to choose from, but in this price range you will find the best combination of affordability, accuracy, reliability, and operational features. This may sound like a lot of money for a CO detector when home versions go for $20 or $30, and we don’t want to break the bank, but ask yourself at what value do I put my health and safety?
2. Portability. As a driver, you are constantly on the move, not only in your vehicle, but outside of it as well, whether you are refueling or pushing a load onto the docks while your truck idles away in the garage. Look for a CO detector that is small enough to carry with you, on a lanyard, on your belt, or clipped to your shirt pocket. You are not going to want to carry around a CO detector the size of a Big Mac attached to your chest, let alone trying to find an out-of-the-way place to stick it inside your cab. The smaller size detector will hardly be noticeable, until of course the alarm goes off, warning you of dangerous levels of carbon monoxide.
3. Alarm. Speaking of the alarm, you should look for a detector with at least an 85dB alarm. Even better if the detector has multiple alarms such as a flashing LED and/or a vibrator alarm like a cell phone. If the LED and vibration don’t get your attention, the 85dB will certainly do the trick, even if you are at highway speed with the stereo blasting “Sweet Home Alabama”. These alarms should also be set to sound when your exposure exceeds the recommended OSHA, ACGIH, or NIOSH air quality standards. You can usually find that information from the individual product descriptions. Beware of detectors that do not give you that information, usually those are substandard detectors that may not sound until the level reaches close to 100 ppm, which may already be too late, depending on how long you have been exposed to that level. Ideally, your CO detector should have all the alarm settings above, and let you know.
4. Sensitivity. Find a detector that says it is a “low-level” CO detector. You want the detector
to be able to read at least down to 5 ppm so you can see exactly how much CO you are being exposed to, and potentially fix any problems before they get to the “alarm” level. The digital display (yes, it must have a digital display) should also be able to read up to 400 ppm. Any higher, and it doesn’t really matter what the exact concentration is, its bad news and you need to get to fresh air fast.
5. Features. Many of the high-priced CO detectors come with a myriad of different features, most of which will never be used by the average driver. Not to worry, there are only a few must have capabilities that you need to look for in a carbon monoxide detector. Not only should it have a digital display telling you how much CO you are being exposed to as I mentioned above, it should also have dosimeter capabilities, meaning it should be able to tell you what your total “dose” of CO was over the time you were measuring. A detector should be advanced enough to tell you the time-weighted average exposure (NIOSH, ACGIH, and OSHA all set limits in these terms), the total exposure over a period of time, the maximum exposure during that time, and when that maximum concentration occurred during that time period or similar parameters. Only with these features can you get a realistic picture of how much CO you are being exposed to as well as where you were when the exposure happened so you can prevent yourself being poisoned repeatedly. The detector should also have different time modes, such as one that gives you short term readings immediately for on the spot CO checks, and another mode, 8 to 10 hours for example, so you can get a solid picture of exposure during an entire workday. And it should be simple to operate, don’t buy a detector with a 300 page manual and 16 buttons on the front; look for simplicity. There are a few detectors in this price range that feature single button operation which is very easy to use.
6. Manufacturer. Don’t get caught up in only looking at the big-box retailers when choosing a CO detector. Look around, do your research (the internet is a great place to start), and you will come out ahead of the game. Because CO detector technology is advancing so rapidly, many times the smaller companies will be able to offer a better product at a lower price. Those smaller companies tend to have a narrower product and industry focus plus low overhead, leading to the most cutting edge technology being offered in their reasonably priced detectors. After all, these small companies are trying to compete with the big boys, so they are forced to work extra hard to produce an affordable, superior product. Don’t overlook the little guy.
I realize that this is a lot of information to digest, but it is so vital to getting the most for your hard-earned money. Keep these suggestions in mind when you go shopping and you won’t be sorry.
Carbon monoxide is a problem that faces every one of the millions of truck drivers on the road all over the world. Through education, prevention, and a little good old common sense, you can steer clear of the dangers of carbon monoxide. The first step is go get a good CO detector, that way you can stay on the road, and well ahead of this “silent killer”. Drive safely, and happy trails.
Tom Stetter, Transducer Technology, Inc.
References:
Trucking Stats, Truckinfo.net, www.truckinfo.net/trucking/stats.htm
Occupational Outlook Handbook 2006-07 Ed., U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov/oco/print/ocos246.htm
Environmental Protection Agency, An Introduction to IAQ, www.epa.gov/iaq/co.html
Occupational Safety and Health Guidelines for Carbon Monoxide, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, www.osha.gov/SLTC/healthguidelines/carbonmonoxide/recognition.html
Transducer Technology Incorporated, www.transducertech.com.
Truck drivers of all kinds confront many dangers on the roads today. From bad weather to bad drivers, some days it seems like the world is conspiring against you to keep you from delivering your load on time. While road crews shutting down 2 out of 3 lanes on a 9 degree down grade, blown tires sending rubber shrapnel everywhere, and just getting plain old tired are very tangible hazards, there is another that is very easy to overlook. It is nearly impossible to detect with your five senses and potentially more dangerous than anything else out there. This threat is carbon monoxide.
The trucking industry employs over 9 million Americans and 227,000 Canadians, making it one of the top occupations in both countries. In fact, according to Statistics Canada, the occupation of truck driver is the most frequently cited among Canadian men. These almost 10 million highly skilled and constantly tested drivers work on average 60 hours a week, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, to contribute to a revenue stream approaching the trillions of dollars every year. With so many drivers on the road, in garages, and at fuel stations, one would think that carbon monoxide exposure would be a top priority. In fact it is exactly the opposite. A blown tire, dead battery, or faulty air line, while all still dangerous, vastly outweigh CO exposure as a top worry among drivers. Truckinfo.net says 51% percent of truckers are worried about shredding a tire compared to less than 1% concerned about carbon monoxide poisoning. This is not because truck drivers are uneducated, rather, it is due to a lack of awareness about what carbon monoxide is, how often exposure can happen, and how dangerous it can really be. This awareness should be provided by OSHA, the EPA, and our employers and employer organizations, but sometimes unfortunately it is not.
Carbon monoxide is an odorless, colorless, tasteless, and highly toxic gas. Because of this, it can kill you before you are even aware it is there. Carbon monoxide is produced by incomplete oxidation of carbon in combustion. Simply put, CO can be produced by virtually any source of combustion, from vehicle engines and poorly burning or improperly vented kerosene and gas heaters or generators, to cigarettes, faulty furnaces, campfires, and charcoal grilles among hundreds of other sources. For most truck drivers, the greatest threat is from diesel exhaust, whether exposure happens inside the cab of a truck from a cracked header, or outside the vehicle by running it inside a garage.
Carbon monoxide works by combining reversibly with hemoglobin in the bloodstream, creating carboxyhemoglobin. This causes a reduction in the amount of oxygen your blood can carry to the tissues of your body. At low concentrations, an exposed person may experience flu-like symptoms like fatigue, headache, nausea, dizziness, and irritability. As exposure increases, symptoms such as impaired brain function, confusion, chest pain, and eventually unconsciousness set in. Continued exposure at very high concentrations can be fatal within minutes.
Therefore, OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration), NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health), ACGIH (American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists), and other agencies issued Permissible Exposure Limits for carbon monoxide. These exposure limits are expressed in terms of ppm (parts per million) which basically means one part CO in one million parts air. The OSHA limit is 50 ppm as a time-weighted average, the NIOSH limit is 35 ppm as a time-weighted average with a 200 ppm ceiling value, and the ACGIH limit is 25 ppm as a time-weighted average for a normal 8-hour workday or 40-hour work week, which we all know would virtually be a vacation for most truckers. These limits were established because even at these low concentrations, people will begin to see the symptoms of CO poisoning and some people are more sensitive to exposure than others. To put this in perspective, if you were to open your window on the highway in fairly heavy, slow-moving traffic, you could easily be exposed to somewhere between 10 ppm and 45 ppm of CO. You may experience a headache (which you most likely would attribute to frustration over the traffic conditions), mild dizziness, or mild nausea. Now imagine a truck driver being exposed to those conditions 10 or more hours a day, 6 days a week. Fortunately, we do get some open road time, and if the truck is not contributing to the exposure, the clean fresh air will help clear out the carbon monoxide that is present. But, you can see how chronic CO exposure at this level can become problematic, not to mention what would happen if a crack in your exhaust header, a near worst-case scenario, caused diesel exhaust to pour into the cab of your truck. The result could be catastrophic to both the driver and the other vehicles on the road.
Now don’t get me wrong, I am not in the business of trying to scare people, rather, I am in the business of educating those of you who are not aware of this potential danger. It is a real possibility, and every effort should be made to avoid excessive CO exposure. Fortunately there are readily available products out there that can alert you if you are in imminent threat of carbon monoxide exposure and poisoning. Your easiest line of defense is a CO detector that can warn you when exposure occurs so you can minimize it and avoid it.
Carbon monoxide detectors come in all shapes and sizes, all for various applications, from plug-in models for the home, to high tech, industrial grade instruments for more stringent laboratory and occupational environments. With all the choices in CO detectors out there, it is hard to tell what to look for when you are going to make that purchase. Here are the most important things to consider when buying a carbon monoxide detector:
1. Cost. I know the number one concern for a truck driver is cost, especially those of you who are owner-operators. Every dollar spent is one more dollar out of your or your company’s pocket. Now CO detectors can range in price from $20 to almost $1000 for the super advanced models, and many times, you truly do get what you pay for. A truck driver doesn’t necessarily need all the bells and whistles on a $1000 model, so take that out of the equation completely. Now on the low end you are looking at a detector with limited capabilities, sometimes not alarming until well over the recommended exposure limits, if at all, and most of those “cheap” detectors will also alarm if they come in contact with something as harmless as water vapor. Look for a detector in the $100 to $200 range. There are many out there to choose from, but in this price range you will find the best combination of affordability, accuracy, reliability, and operational features. This may sound like a lot of money for a CO detector when home versions go for $20 or $30, and we don’t want to break the bank, but ask yourself at what value do I put my health and safety?
2. Portability. As a driver, you are constantly on the move, not only in your vehicle, but outside of it as well, whether you are refueling or pushing a load onto the docks while your truck idles away in the garage. Look for a CO detector that is small enough to carry with you, on a lanyard, on your belt, or clipped to your shirt pocket. You are not going to want to carry around a CO detector the size of a Big Mac attached to your chest, let alone trying to find an out-of-the-way place to stick it inside your cab. The smaller size detector will hardly be noticeable, until of course the alarm goes off, warning you of dangerous levels of carbon monoxide.
3. Alarm. Speaking of the alarm, you should look for a detector with at least an 85dB alarm. Even better if the detector has multiple alarms such as a flashing LED and/or a vibrator alarm like a cell phone. If the LED and vibration don’t get your attention, the 85dB will certainly do the trick, even if you are at highway speed with the stereo blasting “Sweet Home Alabama”. These alarms should also be set to sound when your exposure exceeds the recommended OSHA, ACGIH, or NIOSH air quality standards. You can usually find that information from the individual product descriptions. Beware of detectors that do not give you that information, usually those are substandard detectors that may not sound until the level reaches close to 100 ppm, which may already be too late, depending on how long you have been exposed to that level. Ideally, your CO detector should have all the alarm settings above, and let you know.
4. Sensitivity. Find a detector that says it is a “low-level” CO detector. You want the detector
to be able to read at least down to 5 ppm so you can see exactly how much CO you are being exposed to, and potentially fix any problems before they get to the “alarm” level. The digital display (yes, it must have a digital display) should also be able to read up to 400 ppm. Any higher, and it doesn’t really matter what the exact concentration is, its bad news and you need to get to fresh air fast.
5. Features. Many of the high-priced CO detectors come with a myriad of different features, most of which will never be used by the average driver. Not to worry, there are only a few must have capabilities that you need to look for in a carbon monoxide detector. Not only should it have a digital display telling you how much CO you are being exposed to as I mentioned above, it should also have dosimeter capabilities, meaning it should be able to tell you what your total “dose” of CO was over the time you were measuring. A detector should be advanced enough to tell you the time-weighted average exposure (NIOSH, ACGIH, and OSHA all set limits in these terms), the total exposure over a period of time, the maximum exposure during that time, and when that maximum concentration occurred during that time period or similar parameters. Only with these features can you get a realistic picture of how much CO you are being exposed to as well as where you were when the exposure happened so you can prevent yourself being poisoned repeatedly. The detector should also have different time modes, such as one that gives you short term readings immediately for on the spot CO checks, and another mode, 8 to 10 hours for example, so you can get a solid picture of exposure during an entire workday. And it should be simple to operate, don’t buy a detector with a 300 page manual and 16 buttons on the front; look for simplicity. There are a few detectors in this price range that feature single button operation which is very easy to use.
6. Manufacturer. Don’t get caught up in only looking at the big-box retailers when choosing a CO detector. Look around, do your research (the internet is a great place to start), and you will come out ahead of the game. Because CO detector technology is advancing so rapidly, many times the smaller companies will be able to offer a better product at a lower price. Those smaller companies tend to have a narrower product and industry focus plus low overhead, leading to the most cutting edge technology being offered in their reasonably priced detectors. After all, these small companies are trying to compete with the big boys, so they are forced to work extra hard to produce an affordable, superior product. Don’t overlook the little guy.
I realize that this is a lot of information to digest, but it is so vital to getting the most for your hard-earned money. Keep these suggestions in mind when you go shopping and you won’t be sorry.
Carbon monoxide is a problem that faces every one of the millions of truck drivers on the road all over the world. Through education, prevention, and a little good old common sense, you can steer clear of the dangers of carbon monoxide. The first step is go get a good CO detector, that way you can stay on the road, and well ahead of this “silent killer”. Drive safely, and happy trails.
Tom Stetter, Transducer Technology, Inc.
References:
Trucking Stats, Truckinfo.net, www.truckinfo.net/trucking/stats.htm
Occupational Outlook Handbook 2006-07 Ed., U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov/oco/print/ocos246.htm
Environmental Protection Agency, An Introduction to IAQ, www.epa.gov/iaq/co.html
Occupational Safety and Health Guidelines for Carbon Monoxide, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, www.osha.gov/SLTC/healthguidelines/carbonmonoxide/recognition.html
Transducer Technology Incorporated, www.transducertech.com.
Trucker Deaths from CO Poisoning??
6. Commercial Appeal, The (Memphis, TN) - October 26, 2006 Ind. driver, 45, found dead at Olive Branch truck stop A 45-year-old Indiana truck driver was found dead in the cab of his truck at the Flying J Travel Plaza in Olive Branch Wednesday morning.Police identified him Wednesday afternoon as Kevin Cox, 45, of Rochester, Ind."There was no sign of foul play or injury, but an autopsy has been ordered," said Maj. Don Gammage, chief of detectives for the Olive Branch Police Department.He said the truck, owned by Denton LLC of Rochester, Ind., pulled onto the Flying J...
11. Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The (GA) - May 28, 2006 Missing truck found in Georgia; driver dead A North Carolina truck driver missing nearly a week since he set out with an 18-wheeler full of frozen groceries was found dead Saturday near Eatonton, just 25 miles short of his destination, after his truck veered off the road into thick woods."We're not sure what happened, but we think he may have fallen asleep at the wheel, or had a heart attack," said Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills.The truck, marked with the red Ingles Markets logo, was...Purchase Complete Article, of 283 words
12. Valley Times-News, The (Lanett, AL) - August 15, 2001 Truck driver found dead at welcome center LANETT -- A truck driver was found dead Tuesday afternoon at the Alabama Welcome Center on I-85.Fifty-seven-year-old Larry E Lemmon of Ringgold, Ga. reportedly stopped at the center late Monday night. Last seen by his wife earlier that same day, he was transporting goods to the Wal-Mart distribution center outside of Opelika.Lemmon was scheduled to be at the distribution center at approximately 6:30 a.m. on Tuesday. When he failed to show, the trucking company he worked for became...
16. Jefferson City News-Tribune (MO) - May 8, 2006 Truck driver found dead MATTHEWS, Mo. (AP) - A truck driver found dead inside the cab of his tractor-trailer at a truck stop in southeast Missouri apparently died of natural causes, authorities said. Another truck driver passing through the Matthews, Mo., area made the discovery at the Flying J truck stop off of Interstate 55 over the weekend.Foul play was not suspected. Coroner Jimmy McSpadden said an autopsy was planned.McSpadden said no one had spoken with the man since April 27, but it wasn't...Purchase Complete Article, of 89 words
28. York News-Times (NE) - January 28, 2005 Truck driver found dead, Officials continue to investigate case YORK -- The York County Attorney/Coroner's Office and the York County Sheriff's Department continue to investigate the death of a truck driver, who was found at the Henderson interchange early Thursday morning.According to the sheriff's department, Bobby West, 64, of Sebree, Ken., was found dead in his semi truck, which was parked at the truckstop at the I-80 interchange there. Initial observations, they said, indicated that he likely died of natural...
33. Bladen Journal (Elizabethtown, NC) - December 6, 2002 Monroe man dies on N.C. 41 A truck driver was found dead of a heart attack in his turkey truck Wednesday around 5 a.m. The truck was found in a ditch at the White Lake Baptist Church on N.C. 41. Bladen County Coroner Hubert Kinlaw said the driver, Richard Grenburiz of Wingate, suffered a heart attack while returning to Monroe.Grenburiz drove for Circle S Ranch, a poultry contractor that regularly transports birds through White Lake to a processor in Duplin County.Kinlaw said Grenburiz had told a co-worker he...
Missing tractor, trailer, contractor found
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (Feb. 26, 2007) — A Warren Transport missing tractor and trailer, driven by an independent contractor and the subject of an intense search between Connecticut and Eaton, Ohio, were found over the weekend at a New York rest stop.
Warren officials reported that the driver was found dead inside the cab. The officials said the driver died of natural causes.
"Our thanks to everyone who helped us get this alert out," Bryan Molinaro-Blonigan of Warren Transport said in an e-mail. "We did receive calls from a number of people with possible leads. Unfortunately the driver had passed away of apparent natural causes and was found at a rest area in New York in his truck. Again our heartfelt thanks."
— The Trucker News Service
7. Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News - January 31, 2007 Woman missing from Yuma found dead in Iowa Jan. 31 An Oklahoma truck driver who had been reported missing at 9:30 p.m. Saturday was found dead Tuesday morning in a semi trailer at a warehouse in Chariton, Iowa. Sheila Kay Ross, 47, of McLoud, Okla., was discovered around 6 a.m. by a dock worker unloading Dole lettuce from a semi trailer at the Hy-Vee grocery store distribution center. Ross was last seen Saturday by her husband exiting their semi truck at the Dole plant, 3725 S. Avenue 3E, to go to an office for paperwork, according to a...
25. Lubbock Avalanche-Journal (TX) - November 25, 2006 Third body found at Texas truck stop SAN ANTONIO (AP) - Police were investigating the death of a truck driver at the same truck stop where two people were found dead earlier this month. A friend found the body of Byron Gonzales inside his big rig Thursday morning, the Bexar County medical examiner's office said. An autopsy was scheduled for Friday.Gonzales, 42, was from California.On Nov. 1, fellow truckers found the bodies of Michelle McLean and Harry Edward Ackroyd inside the cab of an 18-wheeler parked at...
Truck driver found dead in his vehicle.
From: Post-Bulletin (Rochester, MN) Date: July 29, 2006
Jul. 29--OWATONNA -- Police on Friday discovered the body of a truck driver in his vehicle after the trucking company reported the man missing.
Owatonna police received a 911 call shortly before 1 p.m. from McCarley Moving & Storage of Columbus, Ga., asking for help locating one of the company's drivers, according to a release from the police department. The driver failed to show up at that morning in north Minneapolis as scheduled. The driver's last known location was in Owatonna.
11. Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The (GA) - May 28, 2006 Missing truck found in Georgia; driver dead A North Carolina truck driver missing nearly a week since he set out with an 18-wheeler full of frozen groceries was found dead Saturday near Eatonton, just 25 miles short of his destination, after his truck veered off the road into thick woods."We're not sure what happened, but we think he may have fallen asleep at the wheel, or had a heart attack," said Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills.The truck, marked with the red Ingles Markets logo, was...Purchase Complete Article, of 283 words
12. Valley Times-News, The (Lanett, AL) - August 15, 2001 Truck driver found dead at welcome center LANETT -- A truck driver was found dead Tuesday afternoon at the Alabama Welcome Center on I-85.Fifty-seven-year-old Larry E Lemmon of Ringgold, Ga. reportedly stopped at the center late Monday night. Last seen by his wife earlier that same day, he was transporting goods to the Wal-Mart distribution center outside of Opelika.Lemmon was scheduled to be at the distribution center at approximately 6:30 a.m. on Tuesday. When he failed to show, the trucking company he worked for became...
16. Jefferson City News-Tribune (MO) - May 8, 2006 Truck driver found dead MATTHEWS, Mo. (AP) - A truck driver found dead inside the cab of his tractor-trailer at a truck stop in southeast Missouri apparently died of natural causes, authorities said. Another truck driver passing through the Matthews, Mo., area made the discovery at the Flying J truck stop off of Interstate 55 over the weekend.Foul play was not suspected. Coroner Jimmy McSpadden said an autopsy was planned.McSpadden said no one had spoken with the man since April 27, but it wasn't...Purchase Complete Article, of 89 words
28. York News-Times (NE) - January 28, 2005 Truck driver found dead, Officials continue to investigate case YORK -- The York County Attorney/Coroner's Office and the York County Sheriff's Department continue to investigate the death of a truck driver, who was found at the Henderson interchange early Thursday morning.According to the sheriff's department, Bobby West, 64, of Sebree, Ken., was found dead in his semi truck, which was parked at the truckstop at the I-80 interchange there. Initial observations, they said, indicated that he likely died of natural...
33. Bladen Journal (Elizabethtown, NC) - December 6, 2002 Monroe man dies on N.C. 41 A truck driver was found dead of a heart attack in his turkey truck Wednesday around 5 a.m. The truck was found in a ditch at the White Lake Baptist Church on N.C. 41. Bladen County Coroner Hubert Kinlaw said the driver, Richard Grenburiz of Wingate, suffered a heart attack while returning to Monroe.Grenburiz drove for Circle S Ranch, a poultry contractor that regularly transports birds through White Lake to a processor in Duplin County.Kinlaw said Grenburiz had told a co-worker he...
Missing tractor, trailer, contractor found
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (Feb. 26, 2007) — A Warren Transport missing tractor and trailer, driven by an independent contractor and the subject of an intense search between Connecticut and Eaton, Ohio, were found over the weekend at a New York rest stop.
Warren officials reported that the driver was found dead inside the cab. The officials said the driver died of natural causes.
"Our thanks to everyone who helped us get this alert out," Bryan Molinaro-Blonigan of Warren Transport said in an e-mail. "We did receive calls from a number of people with possible leads. Unfortunately the driver had passed away of apparent natural causes and was found at a rest area in New York in his truck. Again our heartfelt thanks."
— The Trucker News Service
7. Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News - January 31, 2007 Woman missing from Yuma found dead in Iowa Jan. 31 An Oklahoma truck driver who had been reported missing at 9:30 p.m. Saturday was found dead Tuesday morning in a semi trailer at a warehouse in Chariton, Iowa. Sheila Kay Ross, 47, of McLoud, Okla., was discovered around 6 a.m. by a dock worker unloading Dole lettuce from a semi trailer at the Hy-Vee grocery store distribution center. Ross was last seen Saturday by her husband exiting their semi truck at the Dole plant, 3725 S. Avenue 3E, to go to an office for paperwork, according to a...
25. Lubbock Avalanche-Journal (TX) - November 25, 2006 Third body found at Texas truck stop SAN ANTONIO (AP) - Police were investigating the death of a truck driver at the same truck stop where two people were found dead earlier this month. A friend found the body of Byron Gonzales inside his big rig Thursday morning, the Bexar County medical examiner's office said. An autopsy was scheduled for Friday.Gonzales, 42, was from California.On Nov. 1, fellow truckers found the bodies of Michelle McLean and Harry Edward Ackroyd inside the cab of an 18-wheeler parked at...
Truck driver found dead in his vehicle.
From: Post-Bulletin (Rochester, MN) Date: July 29, 2006
Jul. 29--OWATONNA -- Police on Friday discovered the body of a truck driver in his vehicle after the trucking company reported the man missing.
Owatonna police received a 911 call shortly before 1 p.m. from McCarley Moving & Storage of Columbus, Ga., asking for help locating one of the company's drivers, according to a release from the police department. The driver failed to show up at that morning in north Minneapolis as scheduled. The driver's last known location was in Owatonna.
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