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Over 4,000 people a year are poisoned by carbon monoxide. A colourless, odourless and tasteless gas, carbon monoxide can prove fatal in our homes, our workplace, or even the great outdoors.

The result of a six month parliamentary inquiry, a report launched today examines how we can mitigate the toll carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning takes on our health, our lives and the NHS budget.

Barry Sheerman, Co-Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Gas Safety Group:

“Low-level carbon monoxide poisoning is a constant risk to us all. Because the gas is so difficult to detect, and the symptoms (such as headaches) so common, many people may be poisoned without knowing it. Moreover, a crude calculation suggests that the effects of such poisoning are currently costing the NHS £178 million a year.

But as this report shows – changing this situation is relatively easy. Carbon monoxide alarms must become as common as fire alarms, everyone needs to be CO aware. One take-away cup of coffee costs more than one year’s protection by a CO alarm!”

To achieve this, the report calls for the cooperation of Government, industry and the health sector so that we can improve detection, raise awareness and develop better regulation.

Last month, figures revealed by the Department for Health suggested that every year, carbon monoxide poisoning results in 4,000 people being diagnosed with low-level poisoning, 200 being admitted to hospital, and 50 people dying. The actual number of people affected is actually thought to be far higher, but currently undetected because of a lack of awareness amongst the public, as well as the difficulty of diagnosis due to the common nature of the symptoms. The long-terms effects of CO poisoning are not yet fully explored, but are thought to range from long term brain damage to death.

Moreover, carbon monoxide can easily be produced. At home, the most common sources are faulty boilers or badly ventilated ovens. For Gas Emergency Services and Ambulance personnel, the workplace poses a hazard, and during our leisure time, the report points to the spate of camping incidents when individuals have taken barbecues into their tents causing fatalities.

The report by the All Party Parliamentary Gas Safety Group suggests that poisoning can be prevented if government, the health service and industry collaborate to raise awareness amongst the public, develop better regulation and improve detection.

For example, the report recommends that:

• *The Government should remove VAT on all carbon monoxide alarms
• *The Health and Safety Executive, working in partnership with industry, should create a central collation point for data relating to carbon monoxide injuries and fatalities, together with a dedicated helpline that would help act as a signposting service.
• *The Government should bring regulation for the whole fossil fuel sector in line with that of the gas industry.

The report will be launched at the same time as “Be Alarmed”, a national campaign to reduce the number of deaths and injuries caused by carbon monoxide. The campaign calls for every household to be fitted with an audible carbon monoxide alarm; an objective whose effectiveness is supported by the parliamentary inquiry.