Carbon monoxide deaths 'on the increase'

Courtesy of BBC News

More than 130 people died of carbon monoxide poisoning in the last two years, according to the gas safety watchdog Co-Gas.

Badly-fitted appliances, which use gas or other household fuels such as coal and wood, are blamed.

Co-Gas says that during the same period almost 800 people became seriously ill and the watchdog argues that unless legislation is passed to ensure that heaters are safe, the number of deaths is likely to increase.

Carbon monoxide gas is silent and odourless and experts say that even the most modern--looking gas fire can be lethal if it is badly fitted or poorly serviced.

One Co-Gas official warned that nearly all the deaths from carbon monoxide occur during the winter months.

"Levels that are recorded over 60 parts per million, the level recorded in air, can be dangerous. So if you come home and sit by your fire, thinking you are safe, you may never wake up."

The groups most notably at risk are students and old people.

Sonja Hyams who was studying at Keele University, was 19 when she died from carbon monoxide poisoning. In a landmark case, her landlord, Peter Owen, eventually pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

Safety campaigners say not enough is being done to alert people to the dangers of carbon monoxide and say that a television advert produced last year should be re-run.

But despite the risks, the Health and Safety Executive which commissioned the advert says that funds necessary to re-run the programme have been diverted to other, equally important, areas.