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Carbon Monoxide

Carbon monoxide is an odorless, colorless and toxic gas. Because it is impossible to see, taste or smell the toxic fumes, CO can kill you before you are aware it is in your home. Scientifically speaking, it is created when there is an incomplete oxidation of carbon in combustion. In layman terms, CO is made when the burning of carbon-containing compounds is not complete. And there are any number of ways that CO can get inside your home, including:

Leaky chimneys
Worn or poorly maintained furnaces
Improperly sized, blocked, or disconnected flues
Gas water heaters and gas stoves
Unvented kerosene and gas space heaters, wood stoves, and fireplaces
Automobile exhaust from attached garages
Cigarette smoke

Knowing if you have a problem with carbon monoxide in your home can be tricky because you cannot smell it, taste it, or see it in the air. If you or someone in your family is exposed to carbon monoxide poisoning, you may have some of these symptoms:

Shortness of breath
Headaches
Dizziness
Nausea
Light-headedness

According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), people often believe when suffering from CO poisoning that they have the flu because the symptoms are so similar. But you need to realize that prolonged exposure to high levels of CO can be fatal. Get fresh air immediately if you think that you may be experiencing symptoms of CO poisoning, Open windows and doors for more ventilation, turn off any combustible appliances, and leave the house. This is serious. You could lose consciousness and die if you do nothing. It is important to contact a physician immediately. Be sure to tell the doctor that you suspect CO poisoning is causing your problems.

Indoor Air Quality Tips:

Install appliances according to manufacturer's instructions
Never service fuel-burning appliances without proper knowledge, skills, and tools
Do not operate unvented fuel-burning appliances in any room with closed doors or windows
Never leave a car running in an attached garage, even with the garage door open
Have your heating system inspected and serviced every year
Check chimneys and flues for blockages, corrosion, and disconnections
Install a CO detector/alarm, choosing a model that can measure low levels of CO
Do not use gasoline-powered tools and engines inside your home or garage
Never burn charcoal inside your home or garage
Never use portable fuel-burning camping equipment inside your home or garage
Never use gas appliances such as ranges, ovens, or clothes dryers for heating your home

Radon

Most people find it difficult to understand what Radon is, where it comes from, and how it can affect the air quality in your home. It is a colorless, odorless, inert gas that comes from the natural radioactive decay of radium and uranium found in the soil beneath your house. The amount of Radon in the soil depends on complex soil chemistry that can vary from house to house. Radon is measured in Pico curies (pCi/L) and is everywhere. Even the outside air we breathe has small levels of Radon, about 0.35 pCi/L. Radon levels in the soil can range from a few hundred to several thousands pCi/L. The amount of Radon that escapes from the soil into your house depends on the weather, how porous the soil is, its moisture content, and the air pressure inside your home.

Current scientific thinking believes that Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer after cigarette smoking. Radon can enter your home through:

Building materials, including some rocks
Cracks in concrete slabs
Exposed crawl spaces
Floor-wall joists
Loose fitting pipe penetrations
Mortar joints
Open tops of block walls
Pores and cracks in concrete blocks
Spaces behind brick veneer walls that rest on uncapped hollow-brick foundation
Well water from some wells

Indoor Air Quality Tips:

You might think caulking the cracks and the openings in the basement floor will stop the radon from entering the house. In reality, it only takes a pin-size hole in the caulking to let all the radon in. It is unlikely that caulking the accessible cracks and joints will permanently seal the openings radon uses to enter your home. But to minimize Radon build-up by sealing cracks in basements and crawl spaces to limit Radon's ability to infiltrate the home.

Tom Rostron Co., Inc.

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