As Daylight Saving Time Ends, Best Practices for Carbon Monoxide Detectors Critical

Washington, D.C. - UL Standards & Engagement is encouraging consumers to check their carbon monoxide detectors when changing their clocks for daylight savings time on November 3. This includes potentially replacing, installing, or repairing their means of protection. This step is critical as more than 86 million Americans – or one-third of U.S. adults – do not have any means of detecting a carbon monoxide leak in their homes.

Carbon monoxide poisoning occurs when carbon monoxide – a highly poisonous, colorless, odorless, and tasteless gas – replaces oxygen in the blood. Symptoms include nausea, dizziness, and headaches, and are often misdiagnosed because they are common to other illnesses.  Poisoning can be caused by vehicles in enclosed spaces, portable generators, and common household appliances like fuel-burning furnaces, stoves, and gas ranges.

“Carbon monoxide poisoning sends one hundred thousand Americans to the emergency department every year, underscoring the critical importance of detection,” said Diane Haithcock, standards program director at UL Standards & Engagement.

However, a recent report released by UL Standards & Engagement revealed an alarming number of Americans are living with no means of detection or awareness of this threat. More than an estimated 69 million Americans said they do not need or are unsure if they need a CO detector in the home when smoke alarms are present. Further, nearly half of respondents were unaware that common household appliances could be a source of CO emissions.

A separate report release by the Consumer Product Safety Commission revealed through an in-home survey that, while 99% of households in the United States have a smoke alarm present, nearly half (45%) of homes do not have a CO detector present.

“Many Americans are already in the habit of checking their smoke alarm batteries when we change the clocks, and adding CO alarms to the checklist is a simple step that can save your life,” continued Haithcock. “Detection is prevention, and households should be proactive.”

To mitigate this risk and maintain device functionality, consumers should:

• Ensure carbon monoxide detectors are installed on each level of the home and outside sleeping areas.
• Replace carbon monoxide detector batteries at least once a year, unless the device has sealed 10-year batteries.
• Test detectors monthly while heating systems, chimneys, gas appliances, and other common emitters of CO should be checked annually.
• Use extreme caution with products that generate carbon monoxide, including furnaces, kerosene heaters, vehicles, stoves and gas ranges, portable generators, pool heaters, and more.
• Never operate devices like portable generators and vehicles in enclosed spaces. 

UL Standards & Engagement has over 75 data-backed carbon monoxide safety standards in its catalog. To learn more about the work UL Standards & Engagement is doing on carbon monoxide, visit https://ulse.org/CO.

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Contact

Catie Talenti
UL Standards & Engagement
Senior Strategic Communications Specialist
P: (607) 742-8766
catie.talenti@ul.org