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Klobuchar Urges Action to Prevent Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

Chairs hearing that focuses on improving carbon monoxide alarms

December 17, 2009

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, member of the Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Insurance, held a hearing today that called attention the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning, and highlighted ways to address this growing problem.  Klobuchar and the panelists, including Cheryl Burt from Rochester, Minnesota, discussed improving safety standards for carbon monoxide detectors and incentivizing states to reduce carbon monoxide fatalities. 

“It’s time to sound the alarm on this silent killer,” said Klobuchar.  “In Minnesota and across the country, winter temperatures arrived a few weeks ago, and home furnaces, fireplaces and chimneys will be getting a good work-out over the next several months.  To prevent carbon monoxide poisoning from ever happening in the first place, we need to give people the means and the knowledge to protect themselves against this danger.”

Known as “the silent killer,” carbon monoxide (CO) is an odorless, colorless, poisonous gas.  The deadly fumes result from inefficient combustion, and they can originate from family furnaces, water heaters or gas stoves.  The gas can be trapped inside by a blocked chimney or flue.  Other threats include running a car engine in an attached garage, burning charcoal in the house or operating a gas-powered generator in a confined space.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), about 500 people die each year in America due to accidental CO poisoning.  Another 15,000 people end up in the emergency room.  Children are especially vulnerable.  According to the CDC, 92 Minnesotans died of accidental carbon monoxide poisoning between 2002 and 2006. 

Cheryl Burt from Rochester, Minnesota testified at the hearing.  Burt’s two sons (ages 16 months and 4 years) died from CO poisoning due to a malfunctioning furnace.  Burt, her oldest son and her husband were also poisoned.  The incident happened in January 1996 at the family’s home in Kimball, near St. Cloud.

Klobuchar highlighted the Minnesota law that all homes in the state are required to have working carbon monoxide alarms.  Nationwide, it is estimated that fewer than 30 percent of homes actually have them.  The American Red Cross, the Mayo Clinic and the American Lung Association all recommend the installation of a carbon monoxide alarm in the home.

Klobuchar also discussed legislation that she introduced earlier this year to prevent deaths and injuries from carbon monoxide poisoning.  The Residential Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Prevention Act, modeled after successful similar legislation in Minnesota, would require the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to strengthen the safety standards for all carbon monoxide alarms sold in the United States. 

The bill would also require that the CPSC complete its review on whether portable generators sold in the U.S. can be equipped with safety mechanisms that, among other things, detect the level of carbon monoxide in the surrounding area and automatically turn off the portable generator before the level of CO reaches a threatening level.

Additionally, the bill authorizes the CPSC to provide grants to states with laws on the books that promote the inclusion of carbon monoxide detectors in apartment buildings and new homes.