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Carbon Monoxide: A Silent Killer

As we turn on our furnaces for the Fall and Winter, it’s time to think about the potential threat posed by carbon monoxide.

What is Carbon Monoxide?

Carbon monoxide (chemical symbol: CO) is a colourless, odourless gas that is formed by incomplete combustion of fuels such as wood, charcoal and natural gas. It is toxic because, when it enters our bloodstream, it robs the blood of its ability to carry oxygen to our organs and muscles.

How is it formed?

Most of us associate carbon monoxide with automobile exhaust, but that’s not the only source.

Carbon monoxide is formed by incomplete combustion of wood, charcoal or natural gas. Improperly ventilated appliances and engines, particularly in a tightly sealed or enclosed space, may allow carbon monoxide to accumulate to dangerous levels.

Your furnace, water heater, stove, space heaters, fireplace, woodstove, charcoal grill, and dryer can be sources of CO, especially if they are gas-powered, not in good working condition or have been installed without proper ventilation.

Vehicle exhaust fumes from attached garages also can become CO hazards – even if the garage door is open.

Using kerosene heaters or charcoal grills indoors, or running a car in a garage can cause CO levels to rise high enough to result in death or serious illness.

More modern housing construction techniques have made carbon monoxide even more of a threat. Doors and windows in homes are more tightly sealed to prevent drafts from the outside. But this also reduces the amount of fresh air – and oxygen – entering your house. It’s especially a problem in winter, when we have windows closed for the season.

Your home

  • Never use a cooking device—an oven, grill, or camp stove—to heat your home.
  • If you have a wood-burning fireplace, always make sure the damper is open when the fire is going, to allow CO to go up the chimney with other combustion products. When you put out your fire, make sure it is out, with no active coals. And leave the damper open for a while after putting the fire out to ensure CO doesn’t stay in the house.
  • If you have a fireplace, have your chimney cleaned every few years. Blocked flues keep CO from escaping your home and buildup of creosote (a tarry byproduct of burning wood) can cause chimney fires.
  • Install a carbon monoxide alarm on each level of your home as your first line of defense. CO detectors are most effective when used in conjunction with preventive maintenance.
  • Replace old or faulty central heating and air conditioning units with new and improved models.
  • Make sure any heating and air conditioning system is installed by trained professionals with proper ventilation.
  • Maintain your heating and air conditioning system regularly, usually just before each big change of season.

Your garage

  • It might seem like a time-saver to run your car in the garage before a long commute, especially on a cold winter’s morning. But the emissions from your vehicle can fill your garage with carbon monoxide even if the garage door is open.
  • Always back your car out of the garage to let it warm up. Never leave it running in the confined space of a garage, particularly if the garage is attached to the home.
  • Never run lawnmowers, snowblowers, generators or other gas-powered engines in confined areas like garages or sheds.

Your car

  • Never dismiss a fender bender as something you’ll get checked later. Get your exhaust system checked by a mechanic right away. Even minor collisions can cause breaks in your car’s exhaust system, allowing CO to enter into your passenger area.
  • If you get stuck in deep snow by the side of the road and decide to stay in your car and keep warm with your engine running, be sure to clear snow away from your exhaust pipe. A blocked exhaust pipe can cause CO to back up into your passenger area.

Preventing Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

Carbon monoxide detectors are the fastest way to prevent CO poisoning. You can install a carbon monoxide detector (or multiple detectors) in your home. They work much like your fire or smoke alarm by sounding a siren when they detect carbon monoxide.

How do carbon monoxide detectors work?

Carbon monoxide detectors sound an alarm when they sense a certain amount of carbon monoxide over time. Different sensors set off different types of alerts.

  • Biomimetic sensor: a gel changes color when it absorbs CO, and this color change triggers the alarm.
  • Metal oxide semiconductor: When the silica chip’s circuitry detects CO, it lowers the electrical resistance, and this change triggers the alarm.
  • Electrochemical sensor: Electrodes in a chemical solution sense changes in electrical currents when they come into contact with CO, and this change triggers the alarm.

When will my carbon monoxide detector go off?

The CO alarm sounds if your sensor detects a buildup of carbon monoxide in your home—usually before you start sensing symptoms. At lower concentrations (50 ppm), it may take up to eight hours for the alarm to go off. Higher levels (over 150 ppm) can trigger an alarm within minutes.

Act quickly when an alarm sounds because low doses over long periods can be just as dangerous as sudden exposure to carbon monoxide in ultra-high doses.

How Much CO Does It Take to Make Me Feel Sick?

Most people begin to feel the effects of carbon monoxide exposure at 70 ppm. This is why it’s important to have CO detectors since lower levels don’t bring obvious symptoms.

What kind of carbon monoxide detector should I get?

Overall, carbon monoxide detectors sense CO fast and alert you as soon as they do. But there’s a surprising amount of variety in today’s carbon monoxide sensors.

Some simple models plug into outlets or use a battery and alert you with a loud siren, like the one on your smoke detector. These models are cheap and suitable for multi-room buildings that need several units spread throughout.

Many models include sensors for both smoke and carbon monoxide. These are an easy option that you can swap out your existing smoke detectors for. They also reduce the number of sensors on your walls or ceilings.

You can also find smart models that connect with your home security system or alert you of danger through a mobile app. These models are expensive but can be a wise investment if you want extra safety for kids and pets at home.

Sensor Maintenance

No matter what type of carbon monoxide detection you have, it’s a good idea to conduct regular maintenance:

  • Test it frequently using the button on the front (once a month).5
  • Replace the batteries as often as the instructions recommend.
  • If you have a wired sensor with a battery back-up, make sure both power sources are working.
  • Replace the sensor every few years according to manufacturer guidelines (these sensors don’t last forever).

Where should I place a carbon monoxide detector?

Ensure everyone in the house can hear when an alarm goes off by placing a CO sensor in or near each of four critical locations in your home:

  1. At least one on each level – especially in the basement, where your furnace is located.
  2. Near each bedroom or sleeping space
  3. By doors that lead to attached garages
  4. In your garage – whether attached or not.

Bottom Line

Christine Mercado, who is the Chair of the LBNA, is also a Captain in the City of Vaughan Fire and Rescue Service and has some good advice. “Keeping your smoke and CO detectors in good working order are key to safety in the home. But don’t forget to plan and practice your escape route if your detectors go into alarm mode”

Learn More

The City of Toronto has an excellent web page about carbon monoxide detectors and the regulations associated with them.

If you are a landlord, you should check out this page because the Ontario Fire Code has specific regulations about having CO detectors in your rental property. There are fines up to $50,000 for an individual owner and $100,000 for a corporation.

If you are a tenant, visit the City’s web page to ensure your landlord has adequately provided for your safety.

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Are Your Smoke Detectors Protecting You?

The time we set our clocks back to standard time is also the time most Fire Departments suggest you replace the batteries in your smoke detectors.

Does your home have smoke detectors? If so, do you know if they’re actually working?

Most homes these days have smoke detectors. Perhaps not in every location where one should be, but usually at least one in the house.

This post is a quick overview of how to select and use smoke detectors to ensure your house and your family are protected from fires.

Technologies

There are two main types of smoke detector technology: ionization and photocell.

Ionization smoke detectors are the most common and usually least expensive of smoke detectors. They have a small amount of radioactive material (not enough to be dangerous) between two electrically charged plates, which ionizes the air and causes current to flow between the plates. When smoke enters the chamber, it disrupts the flow of ions, thus reducing the flow of current and activating the alarm

Photocell smoke detectors are less common, but more sensitive and more expensive. They work by aiming a light source into a sensing chamber at an angle away from the sensor. When smoke enters the chamber, it reflects light onto the light sensor; triggering the alarm

You can find smoke detectors that use both technologies, and these are probably the safest because one smoke detector can detect both active fires and fires that are smouldering and not yet active.

Power Source

Smoke detectors can be powered in one of two ways: battery or hard-wired.

With battery powered smoke detectors, the advantage is that they can be placed anywhere in the house.

Hard-wired smoke alarms are wired directly into your home’s electrical circuits. They are installed using a junction box in the ceiling – the same kind of box used for lights. They also can be purchased with battery backup feature so that, if your home lost power – for example due to an electrical fire – the battery would provide enough power to trigger the alarm.

Interconnect Your Smoke Alarms

Hard-wired smoke detectors can also be interconnected so that if a detector on one floor detects a fire, it can sound the alarm on all smoke detectors in the house. This can be useful if a fire were in the basement and the alarm there might not be audible in your bedroom upstairs.

When interconnected smoke alarms are installed, it is important that all of the alarms are from the same manufacturer. If the alarms are not compatible, they may not sound.

A 2009 study done in the US shows just how much interconnection improves safety.

  • When smoke alarms (interconnected or not) were on all floors, they sounded in 37% of fires and alerted occupants in 15%.
  • When smoke alarms were not on all floors, they sounded in only 4% of the fires and alerted occupants in only 2%.
  • In homes that had interconnected smoke alarms, the alarms sounded in half (53%) of the fires and alerted people in one-quarter (26%) of the fires.

Why didn’t the smoke alarms go off 100% of the time? One probable reason is that some of the smoke detectors had dead batteries. Another is that some of the alarms may have been rendered useless because they had accumulated dust and other materials that prevented the sensors from working properly.

Caring for Your Smoke Detectors

Smoke detectors are really only reliable up to 10 years from date of purchase (not just when you actually install them), so you should plan to replace them every ten years. Some detectors have a feature that sounds a brief chirp as the unit approaches the end of its useful life.

Yes, it’s a pain to have to replace smoke alarms, but they only cost about $30 and what price can you put on the safety of your home and family?

Fire Departments are right to suggest replacing the batteries every year, and the end of daylight savings time is an easy time to remember to do so. Fresh batteries help ensure your unit is going to sense a fire, should it break out.

Periodically, you should vacuum the housing for your smoke detector to ensure the vents that allow air to circulate to the sensors are clear of dust and other material. Use the drapery or upholstery attachment, which have soft bristles that can penetrate the vent holes and loosen up dust that may have accumulated.

Lastly, test your smoke alarm once a month to ensure it is working properly.

Learn More

An excellent resource to learn more about smoke detectors is the National Fire Protection Association.

The Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs has a brochure called Working
Smoke Alarms Save Lives that you can download.

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Walking on Streets with no Sidewalks

One of the things we’ve been observing during the pandemic is more people walking. It’s safer than being indoors. You get healthy low-impact exercise and it can be social as well.

When the streets have sidewalks, it’s a no-brainer. But what about when the street has no sidewalks, as on a number of streets in Long Branch?

Sign directing how to walk on a street with no sidewalks

When I was young and growing up, I lived in a neighbourhood where there were no sidewalks, and I walked to school. I was taught to always walk on the side the the road facing oncoming traffic. Common sense from Moms and teachers.

Apparently, there is something in the laws about this. According to section 179, subsection 1 of the Ontario Highway Traffic Act: 

“Where sidewalks are not provided on a highway, a pedestrian walking along the highway shall walk on the left side thereof facing oncoming traffic and, when walking along the roadway, shall walk as close to the left edge thereof as possible.”

If you are walking on the side of the road, traveling in the same direction as vehicles, it can be hard to hear them approaching. Even harder if the vehicle is a bicycle, which is usually very quiet.

When you can’t see traffic approaching you, you are not aware of imminent danger if a car has to swerve to avoid something or someone behind you.

It’s also easier to socially distance when everyone is walking in the same direction on the same side of the street.

A note to motorists and cyclists: when you are approaching someone walking on the same side of the street as you are driving and you can see their backs are turned to you, give a quick toot of the horn (or a ring of the bell on a bicycle) to warn them of your presence.

The Globe and Mail ran an article on this topic on October 30th. Same message. Click Here to read it.

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Don’t Be A Victim of Phishing

There have been a number of phishing schemes active recently that you should be aware of.

Phishing is a cybercrime in which a target or targets are contacted by email, telephone or text message by someone posing as a legitimate institution to lure individuals into providing sensitive data such as personally identifiable information, banking and credit card details, and passwords.

How to Spot a Phishing Scam

The Organization

Someone who is phishing will try to present themselves as an agent for a bank, Revenue Canada, Service Canada or some other governmental institution. Most often they will contact you by phone, but you may receive communication by text message or email.

The Bait

The message you will receive will be a pretext for something that is important to you and that you would normally act. upon. Your bank account is overdrawn, your credit card has suspicious charges, you have outstanding income taxes or Service Canada is after you for overpayment of employment insurance. There is a good chance you have received phone calls based on one of these.

Sometimes, the scammer will have your full name, mailing address and phone in addition to your phone number and may try to confirm one of more of these to make them sound legitimate.

The Hook

Let’s say you pick up the phone and receive a call suggesting your bank is contacting you because there are suspicious charges on your credit card.

Most likely the call will be a robo-call: i.e., the calls are placed by a computer that leaves a prerecorded message. A phishing call will give you a callback number and/or ask you to press “1” (or some other number) to be connected to a live agent.

If you actually end up speaking with a person, the clue that it is a phishing scam is that they will ask you to verify something to “prove you are who you say you are”. That information could be a social insurance number, a credit card number with expiry date and CSC number or a bank account number. This is what they rare really trying to get.

What are the Consequences?

If it’s credit card information they’re seeking, it could trigger a series of purchases made under your name.

If the information the scammer is requesting is a social insurance number, it could result potentially in identity theft. A social insurance number allows someone to get a drivers license, a health card or some other type of document that could allow someone to do illegal things in your name.

Someone could take out a mortgage on your house without your knowledge. You might only become aware of this when you try to sell your home.

How to Not Be a Victim

If you receive a phone call that sounds like a pre-recorded message, simply hang up. If the call really came from Revenue Canada or Service Canada, you would receive a letter from them if they had an issue. This is usually their first way to contact you and you would receive a phone call only if you failed to respond to their letter.

If you listen to a message and it sounds suspicious when the message says something like, “To speak with an agent, please press 1”, do not press the number. Hang Up.

If you get a text message that seems suspicious, do not reply. Delete it. Banks, credit card companies, and government agencies do not generally send text messages to communicate with citizens or customers.

If you get a suspicious email, do not reply. Delete it. And, once you’ve deleted it, empty your trash bin on your computer to ensure it is gone for good. An easy way to determine if an email is legitimate is to check the URL portion (e.g., @XYZcompany.com) of the email address to see if it is the same as the URL of the agency or company the email suggests it is from. If it’s not the same, it’s probably fraudulent.

The hardest tactic to counter is when a person calls you and wants to discuss an issue with you. As we noted above, they can seem very convincing when they have your name, address and phone number. They may event give you an employee ID number to sound legitimate.

When they ask for some kind of personal information from you, ask THEM some questions to confirm they are who they say they are and that they are indeed legitimate employees of an organization you deal with.

For calls about credit card charges, ask what the last balance was on your card and when and how much of the balance you paid. Only someone who works for the organization will know this and they should be able to answer that almost immediately. If they are slow to respond or sound hesitant, just hang up.

If the caller says they’re from a government agency, ask them what the amount was that was payable on your last income tax return and when you paid it. Similarly, with Service Canada, when did you last receive an EI payment and how much was it. If they can’t answer, hang up.

If you feel hanging up is being overly rude, you can simply say you don’t give personal details over the phone. A legitimate representative will understand why you are saying that and not take offence.

How to Not Become a Target

Guard your personal information as much as you possibly can. Never give this out unless you are 100% confident that the person you are giving it to is a legitimate employee or agent.

Phishers get some of their information about you by hacking corporate or government websites where you might be registered as a user. It’s not the easiest way, but develop a habit of changing your passwords regularly – every 6 months or so. You also can make your passwords harder to decipher if they are longer and contain a mix of character types: upper and lower case letters, numbers and special characters.

Set up your email system to identify potential spam or phishing emails and separate them from your inbox. You can set up rules for your email service to follow to know what to look for. Sometimes there will be a folder called Spam or Junk and your email system can learn how to differentiate between legitimate email and fraudulent email. You can teach it to do so.

Sometimes email phishing could trigger installing malware on your computer that can send personal information back to the scammer in the background. Run regular scans for viruses or malware. To make it simple, you can set up these systems to perform scans at preset times. Windows 10, for example, has a very powerful anti-virus and anti-malware application called Windows Defender. It’s free.

The Toronto Police Service also has tips and resources to help you prevent fraud. Click here to visit their page on Financial Crimes.

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Tree for Free Shop Closed

We have closed off any further orders for trees and shrubs through our Tree for Free program. We’re now in the process of submitting your orders to the nursery for fulfillment.

Don’t forget to pick up your free trees and shrubs next Saturday at the entrance to Samuel Smith Park. We suggest you print off a copy of your receipt and bring that with you to help ensure you get what you ordered.

Our shop is closed for the winter. Check back in the Spring when we’ll be back with new varieties for you to choose from.

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Quiet Streets Poll

[socialpoll id=”2679484″]

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