The Dangers of Carbon Monoxide

A lack of regular furnace servicing not only leads to more expensive furnace repairs, a void warranty, but more importantly it increases the risk of there being a dangerous carbon monoxide leak in YOUR HOME!

There are many dangers associated with carbon monoxide, some of which are short term problems and some of which can be permanently damaging or even fatal. Once carbon monoxide has been breathed in, it replaces the oxygen in the blood, thus killing off cells and starving vital organs of oxygen.

One of the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning is death. A large enough dose of this odourless, colourless and tasteless gas can kill within minutes.

In fact, people die every year from carbon monoxide poisoning without ever knowing what hit them. They simply slip in to unconsciousness and never come around, or they may already be asleep when they breathe in the carbon monoxide and simply never wake up again.

Smaller doses of carbon monoxide poisoning can cause a range of symptoms and problems, and depending on how often the CO is breathed in and at what levels, can cause both short term and long term damage. Once of the dangers associated with the short term symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning is the non-specific nature of the symptoms, which can often resemble flu.

This means that the sufferer can often go on breathing in carbon monoxide, which can then lead to either long term or permanent damage, or death.

The long term dangers associated with carbon monoxide can be devastating and can affect the rest of your life. Carbon monoxide can result in brain damage, heart problems, major organ dysfunction, memory or cognitive problems, behavioural and personality changes and a range of other permanent problems.

Carbon monoxide is a silent and deadly danger, and takes thousands of lives all around the world each year. The sad thing is that many carbon monoxide related deaths could have been avoided with some basic precautions and a little vigilance. However, the fact that this gas is practically undetectable to the general public, along with the fact that the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning are so non-specific can contribute to the level of danger that this gas carries.

It is important to remember that learning more about the dangers of carbon monoxide can go some way towards helping you to avoid these dangers, or take appropriate action should you be affected by this gas.

It’s vital to remember that a furnace is a combustion engine running in your home, the importance of regular furnace servicing can not be stressed enough. A furnace service with BC Furnace also includes a free Carbon Monoxide Alarm, so as well as testing the the potential source of CO in the home, we also leave you with the peace of mind of a CO detector to warn you of any leaks from any of our home appliances.