Permalink Carbon Monoxide: What's Invisible Can Kill You (Giveaway)
If you were asked which common household items could potentially emit Carbon Monoxide (CO), could you? How about some of the telling signs or symptoms of it?
I will admit that I could not answer most of those questions with the exception that I knew my gas furnace could emit CO.
These are scary statistics, but 61% of American's asked, couldn't identify ANY Carbon Monoxide poisoning risk in their home. 80% of consumers can’t identify that rusting on flue pipes – one of the most telling signs – is in fact a risk of CO poisoning in the home. 62% of Americans don’t know that the flu – including the H1N1 – is the most comparable to the symptoms of CO poisoning.
Given the fact that you can't see, smell or taste CO, but it can take a life within minutes, no home should be without a Carbon Monoxide alarm. Yet only 50% of Americans have them installed in their homes.
Underwriters Laboratories (UL) commissioned the survey that revealed that so many of us are unaware of the risks of CO. Since UL is in the business of keeping consumers safe, they are eager to share some tips so that you can have a strategy to protect your family from the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning.
INSPECT, PROTECT and DETECT.
Be alert to danger signs and have a qualified technician INSPECT your home once a year. Fuel-burning appliances such as furnaces, hot water heaters and stoves require yearly maintenance. Over time, appliance parts can become damaged or need replacement. A qualified technician can identify and repair product issues before they become a safety concern.
PROTECT your home by purchasing and installing a CO alarm. Purchase and install UL-Listed CO alarms outside each sleeping area and on every level of the home, including the basement...be sure to read the manufacturer’s instructions carefully before installing the alarm. If you already have CO alarms installed in your home, make sure to test them monthly and replace the battery at least once a year.
Be ready to react when you DETECT a problem. If a CO alarm sounds, don’t disable it. Immediately open windows and doors for ventilation and move to a fresh air location outdoors. Make sure everyone from inside the home is accounted for. Call for help from a fresh air location and stay there until emergency personnel arrive. After a CO alarm sounds, always have a professional inspect your home so the source of CO can be identified, and have it fixed immediately.
Those are just some of the things UL suggests, to read about additional ways to Inspect, Protect and Detect please visit their website.
So now that you know the reasons why it's important to have carbon monoxide alarms installed in your home, go out and get some.
UL is wanting to keep my readers safe from CO poisoning and so they are giving away 5 Carbon Monoxide Alarms.
To enter this giveaway visit Underwriters Laboratories and let me know of another way that UL is keeping consumers safe.
For extra entries you can (leave a separate comment for each additional entry):
- Share this giveaway on a social networking site (facebook, stumbleupon etc) Let me know where you shared it.
- Follow me on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway (you can do this daily) Use the following tweet if you like:
@threedifferent Protect your family from Carbon Monoxide Poisoning - 5 CO Alarms from UL Giveaway at http://bit.ly/awQgNw
- Follow my blog publicly with Google Friend Connect.
- Leave a relevant comment on any non-giveaway post (must be a new comment, previous ones aren't eligible), and let me know which one. *2 entries*
- Subscribe to my RSS feed via e-mail or reader.
- Add my button to your blog.
- Enter another giveaway on my blog - let me know which one you entered.
Open to US Residents ages 18+, ends February 23, 2010 at 11:59 PM CST. Winner will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. E-mail must be in comment or submitted when entering. By entering this giveaway you are stating that you have read my **Privacy/Rules statements and agree to them.
The information and giveaway items as well as a CO Alarm for my family were provided free of cost to me by Golin Harris on behalf of Underwriters Laboratories. This post was not monetarily compensated.
Reader Comments (214)
give verification on products, product safety , lots of helpful tips
UL Safety Ambassadors bring the message of safer product use to the communities where they work, live and play.
They help teach about fire safety for children
They offer adult safety tips for every room in the house
They offer product safety information, about products people use every day.
UL help is by creating UL Standards and conducting rigorous safety testing and certification of products . Thanks so much.
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For over 100 years UL has provided technical expertise to manufacturers in 35 countries, so that they can build safer products for their customers.
Following you via google friend connect...rondadoug
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They offer disaster preparedness tips for children under their safety section that include ideas such as making an out of town relative a point of contact in emergencies and ensuring that your children know their parents' names, addresses, and phone numbers by heart. Thank you for this WONDERFUL giveaway!
They provide office safety tips
They also offer safety classroon dvds for children.
runningmatey AT hotmail DOT com
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runningmatey AT hotmail DOT com
email subscriber
runningmatey AT hotmail DOT com
They have a child safety section that has a Safety smart super challenge quiz.
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They offer safety classroon dvds for children.
follow google friend
they build safer products in over 35 countries mverno@roadrunner.com
UL is keeping consumers safe by their independent engineers and scientists who perform thousands of tests on everyday products, from electric appliances and outlets to water and plastics. When you see the UL Mark, you can rest assured that safety has been taken care of.
Following you on Twitter (id- litehouse27) & Tweeted.
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Im following your blog publicly
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I have your button http://lighthousee27.blogspot.com/
I have several gas appliances in my home and no carbon monoxide alarm. I could really use this product.
Teaching burn awareness and prevention
http://www.ul.com/global/eng/pages/offerings/perspectives/consumer/childsafety/burn/
Daily Tweet http://twitter.com/MommyKennedy/statuses/8882802590
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They advise to make sure that you have ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) outlets installed in the bathroom as well as in the kitchen, laundry room and workshop. vickers_73460(at)yahoo(dot)com
Subscriber via email. vickers_73460(at)yahoo(dot)com
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They have adult safety tips for every room in the house.
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Daily tweet
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UL performs thousands of tests on everyday products.
They offer Safety DVDs for teachers to show children in the classroom.
They have a very good child safety page including a safety smart super challenge
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They offer safety dvds for children. Thanks for the chance.
mogrill@comcast.net
UL and various units of The Walt Disney company have partnered on a groundbreaking in-school safety program called Safety Smart - empowering students to be responsible and make "safety smart" decisions.
Shared on Facebook (ID: Deborah Rosen).
I follow on Twitter; here's my Tweet: http://twitter.com/AsTheNight/status/8921917212.
I follow publicly with Google Friend Connect.
UL operates with a strict set of standards for many of the products we use today.
They have Children Safety Dvds for classrooms. Something all schools should require.
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they are educating people about the dangers of automatic garage door openers
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