Frost and breakdowns push people to use the stove for heating. Experts: carbon monoxide can kill
Stove Gases / Source: Mariakray | Dreamstime.com
Tens of thousands of apartments in Bucharest and Craiova have been left without heat in recent days, and the sharp drop in temperatures has led more and more people to use the kitchen stove for heating, an extremely dangerous practice that can lead to carbon monoxide poisoning, say representatives of the Intelligent Energy Association (AEI).
Experts warn that burning gases indoors consumes oxygen and releases carbon monoxide – a colourless, odorless and tasteless gas – that can cause death even at low concentrations.
“The burning of natural gas on the kitchen stove causes the consumption of oxygen from the atmosphere and the release of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide into the atmosphere. The man dies without the oxygen consumed and replaced by carbon dioxide. But much more dangerous than the lack of oxygen and its replacement with carbon dioxide is the presence in the air of carbon monoxide resulting from combustion, which has the peculiarity that it can kill a man at low concentrations, before he runs out of oxygen”, he specified Dumitru Chisăliță, president of AEI and judicial expert of the Ministry of Justice in the field of natural gas, explosions and carbon monoxide poisoning, in a statement sent to Agerpres on Sunday.
According to the cited source, symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning range from mild, flu-like symptoms (such as headache or stomach ache followed by fever) to severe heart and brain disorders. Even prolonged exposure to small amounts of carbon monoxide over several days can cause poisoning.
He also gives an example to highlight the seriousness of the situation:
“In the situation of a 7 sqm kitchen (as there are many in Romania), if the doors and windows are closed and there is no fresh air access system and combustion gas exhaust, in which there is a 4-burner stove-type cooking machine, which is allowed to work through all the burners, it consumes all the oxygen in the room in 39 minutes and would cause the death of a healthy person by asphyxiation. In the case of a correct combustion, so much is produced a lot of carbon monoxide to kill a man in 35 minutes. This example is made precisely to show the danger to which people submit themselves, especially those with low incomes who do not have money to pay their heating energy bill and prefer to use gas for heating, which is paid in a flat rate, they spend less on maintenance”.
26 times more deaths from carbon monoxide poisoning in Eastern Europe than in Western Europe
Statistical data from the period 1980-2008 show that in Europe the number of deaths due to carbon monoxide poisoning was 2.2 deaths/100,000 people/year, but the evolution has improved in some countries in the meantime.
In 2021, the number of deaths recorded as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning, not only in homes with natural gas, were: in Eastern Europe, about 2.12/100,000 people (the highest European level), in Central Europe – about 0.335-0.389/100,000 people, in Western Europe – about 0.0825-0.0889/100,000 people, and globally (reference) 0.366/100,000 people, around 28,900 deaths worldwide.
According to representatives of the Intelligent Energy Association, in Eastern Europe there are 26 times more deaths due to carbon monoxide poisoning than in Western Europe.
In this context, specialists come up with several recommendations to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning such as: constant ventilation of the home, checking the heating installations, avoiding improvisations with the heating installations, installing carbon monoxide detectors and calling 112 immediately in case of symptoms of poisoning.
The AEI president also believes that it is very important to educate the family (including children) regarding the correct use of heating devices and recognizing the symptoms of intoxication (headaches, dizziness, nausea, fatigue or confusion).
