Monoxide risk, how to escape the silent killer
It is an odourless, colourless, tasteless gas that originates from incomplete combustion processes
2' min read
Key points
- Why is carbon monoxide dangerous
- Monoxide, the difficulty in recognising the symptoms
- A carbon monoxide detector is all you need to avoid poisoning: there are also portable ones.
- A carbon monoxide detector is all you need to avoid poisoning: there are also portable ones.
- Never close openings near kitchens with gas stoves
2' min read
New Year's Eve is just around the corner and many will be setting off to spend the last day of 2024 in mountain, country or winter sea, holiday homes that may have been closed for months. Accomplice to a lit fireplace with an insufficient draught due to poor maintenance, old stoves or malfunctioning boilers, the risk is that an invisible and dangerous guest creeps in: carbon monoxide. In the last few days leading up to Christmas 2024, several episodes have been recorded in Italy with several victims and serious intoxicated people, some of whom are still hospitalised.
"Every year, the winter phase is obviously the highlight of the reports of intoxication related to what is called a 'silent killer'," stresses Carlo Locatelli, director of the Maugeri Poison Control and Toxicology Centre (Pavia).
Why Carbon Monoxide is Dangerous
Monoxide is a silent killer because 'it is an odourless, colourless, tasteless gas' that originates from incomplete combustion processes that can occur in the case of malfunctioning heating systems, clogged flues, improper use of braziers (e.g. in a confined or poorly ventilated room).
Monoxide, the difficulty in recognising the symptoms
.Locatelli emphasises the difficulty of immediately recognising and classifying intoxication as such: 'Carbon monoxide is also called the great imitator because the symptoms it gives mimic other conditions, from gastroenteritis to profound fatigue. This also causes them to be underestimated. These are non-specific symptoms 'that may seem trivial': cephalea, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, chest pain, but there are also more serious signs such as fain, convulsions.
Intoxications when heating
."These intoxication episodes typically occur when the heaters are switched on," the expert explains. The monoxide danger strikes "in various areas in different ways, obviously particularly where it is colder, so with a prevalence in the north of the country, but not only there. Even in island areas and in the South, it is not uncommon for there to be similar episodes, perhaps in individual, detached homes, with non-centralised systems that are little used; it happens where braziers or stoves that have been out of use for some time are used. It is a ubiquitous problem and during the Christmas holiday period it is not uncommon'.
