Carbon monoxide poisoning 13 injured

Defective gas boiler: 13 injured by carbon monoxide poisoning

29/12/2014

In Wuppertal, carbon monoxide leaked from a defective gas boiler at the weekend. Thirteen people, including several children, had to be taken to hospital. Some of them are treated in a pressure chamber. Carbon monoxide poisoning also leads to deaths.

Bad or not serviced gas boiler
On Sunday, 13 people in Wuppertal poisoned with carbon dioxide from a gas boiler and had to go to hospital. According to media reports, seven of them, including six children, were subsequently transferred to a special clinic in Aachen. They are treated in a pressure chamber. According to the police, a bad or not-maintained gas boiler in the apartment building was the cause of the disaster. Carbon monoxide (CO) is a highly toxic gas that is extremely dangerous because it is colorless and odorless. It always comes back to deaths from carbon monoxide, when it flows from gas stoves or fireplaces unnoticed in the apartment or handle people indoors with an open fire.

Health hazards due to carbon monoxide
Carbon monoxide can cause headaches even in low concentrations of 200 particles per million air molecules (ppm). At higher concentrations also threatens complaints such as palpitations, hallucinations, dizziness, dyspnoea, nausea and vomiting or fainting. Carbon monoxide poisoning can be a threat not only due to faulty gas water heaters or wood pellet heaters, but also to grilling when the toxic gases enter the apartment. In addition, carbon monoxide is inhaled during smoking and, together with the intake of tar, nicotine and other harmful substances, increases the risk of cancers in the pharynx and larynx, esophagus and lungs. Furthermore, CO can damage the inner skin of the blood vessels and thereby promote arteriosclerosis. (Ad)

Image: Marlies Schwarzin