IntermtnMedCtr - Effects of exposure to carbon monoxide

Short Summary

Main recommendation: install carbon monoxide (CO) detectors and have furnaces and water heaters checked every year, or even twice a year, because the gas is odorless, colorless, and tasteless and can cause lasting harm. The report describes a Utah family of six whose slow exposure from a faulty water heater went unrecognized for a long time, and the effects, including brain damage, persisted years later.

Key Points

• Carbon monoxide exposure can be hard to identify because its symptoms, such as headaches and nausea, can look like ordinary illness.
• The Watson family had severe headaches for an extended period before a plumber found small amounts of CO seeping from a broken water heater.
• Some people recover without lasting problems, but others can have permanent brain damage and, in a few cases, permanent heart damage.
• According to Dr. Linda Weaver, medical director of hyperbaric medicine at Intermountain Medical Center, CO brain damage can resemble postconcussive syndrome after trauma.
• Intermountain Medical Center treats dozens of CO patients a year at its facility, and hundreds statewide, with cases concentrated in winter.

Details Worth Noting

• Concrete instructions: Install CO detectors in the home. Have the furnace and water heater inspected every year, and consider checking them twice a year. Watch for persistent headaches or nausea, especially if several people in the household have them at the same time, and treat that as a reason to check for CO.
• Sherlin Watson's family had symptoms in the winter of 2000, and her 12-year-old daughter had memory loss and a learning disability; Watson still reported depression and sleep problems years later.
• The report describes hyperbaric treatment: the Salt Lake family of six was treated for nearly a week before going home.
• Dr. Weaver warned that high-dose exposure can be fatal before a person becomes ill, and that survivors may have long-term damage.

Bottom Line

Because CO poisoning is silent and its early symptoms are easy to dismiss, detectors and regular appliance inspections are the simplest protection against harm that can persist for years.