Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-01-06
CARBON MONOXIDE
POISONING
By Frederic J. Haskin.

By Frederic J. Haskin.
Scarcely day passes at this season
of the year without carbon monoxide
gas getting In its deadly work OF
poisoning one or more people. In
few recent cases suicides have chosen
the carbon monoxide exit from this
vale Of tears.
Accidental deaths from this gas oc-
cur most often because people have
never learned that 1t Is better to be
cold than to be dead. They think of
the momentary discomfort OF opening
doors or windows to the icy draughts
of Winter and they decide to take a
as the Irish bull expresses it, they
don't know anything-death mas
stalked them successfully.
There are also many needless fatall-
ties from carbon monoxide because
in spite of all the warnings of health
authorities, public safety councils, in
surance companies. automobile manu-
facturers, gas companies and numer-
Gus other agencies. people will not
understand the deadiness of this gas
and how it can get in its work with
warning. To such people gas of any
kind means an Odor. They simply
can't or won't believe that carbon
| monoxde is almost absolutely odor-
less and that there might be a suffi-
cient quantity of it in room or a
garage to cause death without a per
sons being able to detect its presence
until 1t is time to send for the cor
oner.
| Most re 4bogo ea+ot oootda1@u rCc,1r
| in garages through the running of an
automobile engine without opening
the garage door or windows. Here
again there are victims who suffer
because they are incredulous or skep-
teal. They will say nothing can hap
pen If they run their engines for only
IL minute or two. They take the
chance and topple over.
Surgeon Generals Warning.
Here's what the Surgeon General Of
the United States Public Health Serv-
ice says as TO what even a small en-
CINE can do in an average sized
garage:
I'm tests Of the exhaust of a small
23-horsepower automobile engine 1t
has been found that it discharged ap-
proximately 25 cubic feet of gas per
minute, samples of which gave an
ide, or Is cubic feet of deadly carbon
monoxide gas per minute. OF course,
larger engines will give off more.
Now ratio of Is parts carbon
monoxide to 10000 parts Of air is con-
sidered a dangerous concentration to
be exposed to for a considerable time
and the small 23-horsepower engine
in warming UP and giving off only one
cubic foot of carbon monoxide per
niIlltn would 70 nj -
a small closed garage, 10 by 10 by 20
feet. to the danger point in about 3
minutes"
The Surgeon General also explains
the poisonous action of this gas,
pointing out that it depends on the
fact that it has a much greater affin-
ity for the hemOglobin of the blood
than has oxygen. Hemoglobin at
tracts carbon monoxide about 300
times as strongly as 1t does oxygen
BY combining with carbon monoxide
the hemoglobin of the red blood cor
puscles is prevented from giving up
its oxygen to the tissues Death re
suits from paralysis of the respiratory
apparatus.
The attack of carbon monoxide
poisoning comes on insidiously and
consciousness is gradually lost. Even
though the victim may become aware
or the danger, he is often unable TO
escape from it because of the great
loss or motor power. THE automobile
worker in small garage is most fire.
quently the victim" concludes this
warning. 1T therefore behooves
every person who runs his engine in
h small garage to see to it that the
room is properly ventilated by having
the windows and doors opened if he
expects to run the engine for even
a few minutes"
"A person may he literally i'm
mersed IN the gas and never suspect
1t until he begins to grow dizzy or he
comes paralyzed," says a warning is
sued by one of the large insurance
companies. 1.-THE next stage is UNI
consciousness; the next, death,
| when death does not come. the
effects may readily be depression.
lowered vitality and lessened resist
ance to disease. The feeling of tight
ness across the forehead, headache or
the tired feeling after an automobile
ride may not be due to eyeStrain, but
to leaky engine exhaust releasing
carbon monoXide. a more or less
constant exposure to small amounts
of carbon monoxide gas leads to a
chronic poisoning which may mani
fest itself in various symptoms of
i'll health"
Closed Cars May Be Dangerous.
| According to this authority, with
the increasing popularity of closed
cars there is increasing danger from
carbon monoXide poisoning to people
who form the habit of riding in the
coach, sedan, limousine or coupe with
all windows tightly closed. A leaky
exhaust pipe from the engine may
admit the gas into the car and there
Is no more warning of its presence
than in the closed garage or room.
Even in an open car, with unlimited
fresh air, there can he enough carbon
monoxide in the air close to the en-
CINE to produce serious effects upon
those who breathe il.
Cabins of motor boats are likewise
fertile fields for carbon monoxide
tragedies. The engine is usually III
well sheltered place, hence the VEN
tilation is likely TO be poor, and boat
men should never work over engines
so situated without stopping to get
out into the open air at frequent in
| terValS.
Nor is the engine driven by gaso-
line, whether in an automobile or a
motor boat, the only carbon monoxide
threatening menace to life and
health. The gas range in the kitchen,
the gas Water-heater in bathroom or
basement and gas logs and heaters
| in living rooms or bedrooms may
prove to be equally dangerous. Gen
orally speaking. no gaS-burnlng APP
paratus should be operated in house
unless it is connected with Il chimney
or pipe.
The gas range in the kitchen may
have been operated, without q sign
Of trouble, for years without pipe
| obi