Laurel outlook., 1950-12-20
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Board Of Health
: Montana State Board of Health :
: Helena, Montana :
G. D. Carlyle Thompson, M. D.:
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
Carbon Monoxide POisonings

and in many industrial occupations,
Automobile Poisonings
Running automobile motors in
closed garages or in repair shops,
and leakage of exhaust gas into
automobiles or buses because of
faulty exhaust systems cause many
cases of poisoning.
So called car sickness, headache,
sleepiness, faulty judgement, and
impaired driving ability may some
times be due to the presence of the
deadly carbon monoxide. Investi-
cations have indicated that mild
exhaust gas poinsoning has been a
contributing cause in many high
way accidents.
Blown-out exhaust gaskets,
cracked exhaust manifolds, leaky
mufflers, and loose exhaust pipe or
manifold connections are among
the causes of exhaust gases escap-
ing into the drivers compartment
in large enough quantities to cause
possible harm.
To prevent carbon monoxide poi
soning from automobiles the fol-
lowing suggestions are made:
Do not u an automobile en-
CINE in a closed garage. The car
bon monoxide given off by a car
running in a garage with the doors
closed is sufficient to render the
air deadly in 5 minutes.
Do not sit in a closed parked
car with the engine running. The
hot exhaust gas tends to rise and
may leak through openings in the
floor.
Do not operate an automobile
with a poorly adjusted motor. This
is not only uneconomical from the
standpoint of fuel combustion, but
it greatly increases the carbon
monoxide output of the motor.
Keep the exhaust system free
from defects so that the exhaust
gases are discharged at the rear
of the car.
Poisonings in the Home
In the home, furnaces having
partly blocked chimneys or leaky
deteriorated piping may be n of
the sources of carbon monoxide
poisoning. Tampering with burners
or vents of gas-fired appliances
may also create excessive amounts
of carbon monoXide.
The following are some of the
precautions that a be taken in
the home.
Inspect furnaces periodically to
see that the flues and vent pipes
are kept clean and in a good state
of repair.
Use proper gas-burning equip
ment correctly adjusted. The local
gas company has a service for the
inspection of gas-burning appli-
anceS.
Do not leave a gas flame burn
ing low in the room where one is
sleeping. Do not sleep with an I'M
vented heater burning and win
dows closed.
Use care when boiling liquids on
gas stove. See that they do not
boil over and partially e%xtinguish
the gas flame.
Industrial POisOnings
AS a potential industrial poison,
carbon monoxide is second only to
cad.
Industrial surveys indicate that
carbon monoxide may be a hazard
garage workers and motor We
licle drivers. Most carbon monoX-
de poisonings occur on these jobs.
Additional potential exposures oc-
:ur in mines following the use of
or fires; near furnaces,
,vens, FORCES, kilns, as well as
hargers, cleaners, coremakers, and
men in smelters and brass
'oundries.
Salamander stoves, a metal drum
ype, are dangerous sources of car
ION monoxide in poorly ventilated
In the printing industries limo
and monotypists may be
objected to carbon monoxide from
he melting pots. Other jobs where
arbon monoxide may be a hazard
cooking, baking, tailor shops,
.undry works.
In industry the following is sug-
.ested as the best protection from
arbon monoxide poisoning.
Keep alert to defective ventila-
ion and situations in which the
asses of burning fuel of any kind
lay get into the air. Report to
our employer any condition which
lay cause the formation or accu-
lulation of carbon monoxide gas.
When a worker enters a closed
pace were carbon monoxide gas
las be present, he should wear an
respirator and safety line.
crew of men who know the signs
f carbon monoxide poisoning
nould watch him while he is in
lere.
Your local health department or
lie Industrial Hygiene Division of