Protect Your Family from the ‘Silent Killer'

According to a 2008 survey conducted by KRC Research and Underwriters Laboratories, only half of Americans say they have a carbon monoxide (CO) alarm in their home. Because CO is invisible and odorless, the safest way to protect your loved ones is by installing a UL Listed CO alarm outside each sleeping area of your home. If you already have a CO alarm, be sure to test it once a month and change the batteries annually.

Known as the silent killer, CO is produced by incomplete burning of fuel, such as propane, kerosene, gasoline, oil, natural gas, wood and charcoal. A CO leak can be attributed to many common household sources including malfunctioning gas-fired appliances, space heaters and chimney flues. It is especially important to check CO alarms and make sure that they are fully operational before and during winter months.

CO poisoning is especially dangerous because symptoms can often be mistaken for the flu and can include nausea, fatigue, headaches, dizziness, breathing difficulty and confusion. Those were some of the symptoms Cheryl Burt's children started to display one frigid Minnesota winter.

"We had been sick, but we didn't know why," Burt said. "I was continually taking my children to the doctor. They would wake up lethargic and ill, but after a 20-minute car ride to the doctor's office, they would be running around and playing. No one realized that it was carbon monoxide from a faulty furnace."

Two of Burt's children later died as a result of the exposure. Had the Burts had a CO alarm in their home, it could have warned them before their lives were in danger. For more tips on how to protect your family from the ‘silent killer' please read the UL CO safety tip sheet.