About CO

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What is Carbon Monoxide?

Carbon monoxide (CO) is an invisible odourless gas which is a product of combustion.

You cannot see it, smell it or taste it – but Carbon Monoxide (CO) can kill you.

Symptoms include:

  • Headaches
  • Nausea
  • Exhaustion
  • Drowsiness
  • Dizziness
  • Vomiting
  • ‘flu like’ symptoms
  • Palpitations
  • Chest pain
  • Collapse without necessarily losing consciousness, followed by unconsciousness and perhaps death.

The elderly and young are at higher risk than healthy adults mainly we now think because they spend the most time indoors. If you are suffering any of the symptoms, especially if more than one person in the house is suffering, you may be at risk of CO poisoning. Please bear in mind that family members can suffer different symptoms for example mother may be tired and have a headache, the son may be dizzy and act strangely, the daughter may have a bad stomach ache while the father may just be bad tempered. The problem is that such symptoms could be nothing or they could be CO. There are also other toxins in fuel. See under ‘Other toxins’ or under ‘blood tests’. Please also be aware that doctors are generally poor at diagnosing CO. Also be aware that a blood or breath test can produce a false negative, if the patient has been out in the open air or sitting in a GP’s surgery or at A & E for some hours. It is NOT necessary to obtain arterial blood for a blood test. Please be aware that carbon monoxide is just one of the products of combustion and that you may have been poisoned by other toxins in the products of combustion. 

For more on CO see https://gaslab.com/blogs/articles/carbon-monoxide-levels-chart

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