Carbon Monoxide

CHICAGO -- Carbon monoxide poisoning frequently causes symptomless heart damage that appears to shorten patients' lives, a study found. All 230 patients studied had poisoning similar to that suffered by the survivor of the Jan. 2 West Virginia mine explosion, although most were exposed to the toxic gas from faulty furnaces or fires. Overall, 37 percent had heart muscle damage caused by carbon monoxide exposure, including six of 12 patients who died while in the hospital for initial treatment, the researchers said.

A Dorchester three-decker was evacuated and four residents were taken to the hospital to be checked for carbon monoxide exposure Saturday after they complained of lightheadedness, according to fire and public safety officials. Firefighters arrived at 6 Millet St. just after 9:30 a.m. said Boston Fire Department spokesman Steve MacDonald. Emergency Medical Service officials found evidence of elevated carbon monoxide levels in residents' systems. Four said they felt dizzy, lightheaded, and nauseated, and were taken to Massachusetts General Hospital.

A five-story apartment building in downtown Boston was evacuated yesterday afternoon after firefighters discovered elevated levels of carbon monoxide. A resident of 11 Temple St. went to the Beacon Hill firehouse around 3:49 p.m. to report the carbon monoxide alarm was going off, according to Fire Department spokesman Steve MacDonald. A gas company crew that worked on the street in front of the 10-unit building Friday was on the scene yesterday to try to locate the source of the fumes, officials said.

Greenwich officials said a boiler problem was to blame for the carbon monoxide poisoning of seven members of a family. A man, woman, and five children ranging from 3 years old to high school age were taken to Greenwich Hospital Monday morning after falling ill from carbon monoxide poisoning while they were sleeping. All the victims are expected to fully recover. Acting town Fire Marshal James McDonald told the Greenwich Time that carbon monoxide leaked from a boiler and permeated the home.

I was rather amazed and a bit scared when I read your opinion on Dec. 29 that ventless gas fireplaces or gas logs are a hazard, and should not be sold. I have one, so my concern was doubled. I use it for 40 minutes a day, just to enjoy its warmth and good looks. Should I get rid of it or stop using it? I'd like to keep it. ANONYMOUS You can keep it, and keep using it for short times, and only for supplemental heat, and you will be OK. The Handyman came on strong about ventless fireplaces because he thinks they are hazardous, and the idea of a flame in a room without a vent is...

Two people in the Western Massachusetts town of Palmer died of carbon monoxide poisoning yesterday, bringing the state total to at least three dead and 14 hospitalized from the deadly gas since the freak October snowstorm hit Saturday, authorities said. A woman, 22, and a man, 57, along with two dogs, were found dead around 3 p.m. inside a mobile home in the Bondsville section. The man's son, who is also the woman's boyfriend, had gone to work in the morning. When he returned home, they were dead, officials said.

Q. I moved to a new house just three years ago. It has no chimney, so the water heater and house heater (warm air) are equipped with power vents, exhausting the gas fumes outdoors via a double-walled pipe. I changed the water heater recently, then after a heavy snowstorm, we had no power for a week, the house heater stopped working, the water heater kept burning gas, but the exhaust fan did not, so I was getting carbon monoxide in the house. I shut it off and called the water heater company and the house heater company to try to fix it or prevent it from...

TOKYO -- Nine bodies were found in two parked cars yesterday with charcoal stoves at their feet and the windows sealed from inside in what is believed to be Japan's largest group suicide. In one case, police rushed to a van in a deserted lot outside Tokyo after receiving a call from a friend of a victim, but they failed to reach it in time, finding seven dead -- four men and three women, including teenagers and a 33-year-old mother, a police spokesman said. The other two women were in a rented car at an isolated temple in Yokosuka, about 60 miles southwest of the capital.

Greenwich officials said a boiler problem was to blame for the carbon monoxide poisoning of seven members of a family. A man, woman, and five children ranging from 3 years old to high school age were taken to Greenwich Hospital Monday morning after falling ill from carbon monoxide poisoning while they were sleeping. All the victims are expected to fully recover. Acting town Fire Marshal James McDonald told the Greenwich Time that carbon monoxide leaked from a boiler and permeated the home.

Firefighters in Keene, N.H., have evacuated a Target store because it had high levels of carbon monoxide. It wasn't immediately known how many people were inside the store at the time of the evacuation about 12:40 p.m. Tuesday. Firefighters said 16 to 18 people felt some symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning, and two people were taken to a hospital as a precaution. It wasn't immediately determined what caused the elevated levels at the store on Ash Brook Road. Neighboring stores were not affected.

People often dream that better technology can solve the world's most persistent problems. There is, for example, an international movement that wants to distribute cleaner stoves to fight indoor air pollution in the developing world. Reducing carbon monoxide poisoning would have huge health benefits. Yet human foibles often stymie the cleverest engineering. New research shows that the stoves can have little long-run impact on air quality or health because they are underused and often break.

As daylight saving time approaches, the state fire marshalcq is reminding residents to change the batteries in their smoke and carbon monoxide detectors when they change their clocks. "Making sure the smoke alarms are working is a simple, effective way to help your family survive an unexpected fire," State Fire Marshal Stephen D. Coancq said in a statement. "A working smoke alarm can double your family's chance of surviving a fire. " Daylight saving time arrives at 2 a.m. Sunday.

HARTFORD - Stamford officials urged the General Assembly on Tuesday to pass legislation requiring smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in all residential buildings, saying such a law could prevent tragedies like the fire that killed a couple and their three granddaughters on Christmas Day. Stamford's mayor, Michael Pavia, said Lomer and Pauline Johnson; their 7-year-old twin granddaughters, Grace and Sarah Badger; and their 9-year-old granddaughter, Lily...

Employees of a Gloucester lobster distributor were evacuated yesterday after several at the firm reported headaches from a possible carbon monoxide leak. Gino Mortillaro, general manager of Mortillaro's Lobster Co., said the city Fire Department was alerted at about 12:30 p.m. and sent employees to the hospital to be checked. A Fire Department dispatcher said a leak in an aging machine was repaired, and after airing out the workplace for several hours, fire officials gave the OK for employees to return to work.

South Charleston's mayor says a ventilation system at a hotel that leaked deadly carbon monoxide poisoning wasn't inspected because the city didn't know it had been installed. Mayor Frank Mullens tells the Charleston Daily Mail ( http://bit.ly/AeefuV) the city was never informed of the work. He says there's no record of a licensed contractor getting a permit to install the system. The leak Tuesday killed a Rhode Island construction worker and sickened others at the Holiday Inn Express and Suites.

Kanawha County officials are looking into whether carbon monoxide detectors should be required in buildings open to the public following the death of a Rhode Island man at a hotel. The Charleston Daily Mail ( http://bit.ly/zo0ID7) reports that a task force established by the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department will meet Friday. Health department director Dr. Rahul Gupta says the task force will look at what facilities should have carbon monoxide detectors. The group also will examine where detectors should be placed in a building.

Three people were treated for high levels of carbon monoxide after attending a weekend event at a skating rink in Exeter. The Exeter Fire Department says firefighters received calls from Portsmouth Regional Hospital and Exeter Hospital reporting that they had treated the three. All of those treated had attended an event at The Rinks at Exeter on Saturday night. Firefighters say there were high carbon monoxide levels in the building yesterday morning. The building was ventilated and closed to the public for the day.

A Dorchester three-decker was evacuated and four residents were taken to the hospital to be checked for carbon monoxide exposure Saturday after they complained of lightheadedness, according to fire and public safety officials. Firefighters arrived at 6 Millet St. just after 9:30 a.m. said Boston Fire Department spokesman Steve MacDonald. Emergency Medical Service officials found evidence of elevated carbon monoxide levels in residents' systems. Four said they felt dizzy, lightheaded, and nauseated, and were taken to Massachusetts General Hospital.

At least 10 people were treated after inhaling mace in a Roxbury apartment building early yesterday. Boston firefighters responded just after 1 a.m. to a possible carbon monoxide incident at 10 Codman Park, according to Fire Department spokesman Steve MacDonald. They found several people coughing and complaining of difficulty breathing. A hazardous materials technician could not find any evidence of carbon monoxide. A man told Boston police officers a short time later that mace had been sprayed in his apartment, according to police spokesman James Kenneally.

Four people were hospitalized yesterday after being exposed to carbon monoxide in their Hyde Park home, about 12 hours after firefighters tested the residence for the toxic gas and found no trace of it inside. Steve MacDonald, a spokesman for the Boston Fire Department, said firefighters first responded to 71 Warren Ave. at 6:52 p.m. Sunday when the family reported their carbon monoxide detector had gone off. "We did not get any readings inside the house on our meter and firefighters advised the homeowner to replace the battery," MacDonald said.