posted on Tuesday, February 23, 2010 1:17 PM
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Editorial: Pending Washington Law Endangers Lives Due to CO Poisoning
A bill that seeks to overturn a critical public safety law is making its way through the state Legislature. If it is not stopped, Washington residents will remain at risk of falling victim to carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning, the most common cause of accidental poisoning death in the US.
As one of the world’s leading experts on carbon monoxide poisoning, I testified in favor of the original legislation mandating residential CO alarms. I lecture nationally and internationally on the topic of CO poisoning and remember saying at the time that I was embarrassed to be from a state that did not require CO alarms in homes because we were ignoring the opportunity to protect our citizens.
I am appalled that the state in which I reside would consider taking a giant step backward in preventing injury and death from carbon monoxide.
House Bill 2886 seeks to remove from law the requirement that existing homes have carbon monoxide alarms installed upon sale, eliminating one of the best methods in which to ensure CO alarms are phased into homes and can protect families.
The bill will also delay by two years the requirement that CO alarms be installed in residential dwellings such as rental properties, student housing and lodging facilities.
Claims by representatives of rental property owners that they do not have enough time for CO alarm installation under current law just doesn’t ring true when you consider that other states have implemented CO alarm programs in similar or less time.
Oregon took 13 months; Illinois, Montana and New Hampshire had seven months; New York, six; and Maine, Massachusetts, Colorado and Vermont took only four months to institute the regulation, even for multi-unit dwellings and rental units. The 34 months HB 2886 seeks is much longer than required by other states, and the result will be to prolong the time that lives are put unnecessarily at risk.
To understand why HB 2886 is so damaging and why enforcing current law is so crucial, it is important to understand the magnitude of carbon monoxide in the United States and Washington state. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, each year accidental carbon monoxide poisoning kills more than 1,000 people in the U.S., with a majority of these deaths occurring in a residential setting.
In addition, CO poisoning is responsible for an estimated 50,000 emergency department visits nationally. And, according to the Washington Department of Health, from 1990 to 2005, nearly 1,200 residents died from acute CO exposure, an average of about 75 deaths per year.
These figures don’t tell the story of the long-term impact on Washington state residents who survive an episode of accidental CO poisoning but then suffer from long-term brain injury.
Lest anyone is under the impression that CO poisoning can’t happen to them, carbon monoxide has many sources that can be found in most homes. CO poisoning can be caused by gas ranges and stoves, gas clothes dryers, faulty furnaces, gas generators and portable heaters, blocked chimneys, wood-burning stoves, and cars left running in attached garages.
And because CO is odorless and colorless and symptoms of poisoning are similar to those of the flu, victims frequently do not know they are being exposed until they are severely poisoned. CO alarms – which cost less than $30 – are the best line of defense because they alert residents to toxic levels of CO in their homes, giving them time to leave the environment before they are injured or killed.
I have treated hundreds of victims of severe CO poisoning and know the long- term and devastating effects of this deadly poison. I urge lawmakers to oppose HB 2886 to help ensure Washington state residents are protected as soon as possible from carbon monoxide poisoning.
Dr. Neil B. Hampson, medical director of the Center for Hyperbaric Medicine at Virginia Mason Medical Center, is one of the top experts in carbon monoxide poisoning in the country. Virginia Mason Medical Center is the regional referral center for treatment of cases of carbon monoxide poisoning with hyperbaric oxygen in the hyperbaric chamber.