Ontario, Canada’s largest province, has recorded 150 new cases of carbon monoxide poisoning in schools since spring. There have been 20 confirmed cases in Toronto, 130 in the province’s capital, Ottawa, and 15 in Fort Erie, a rural town about 55 miles north of Toronto. Officials in Fort Erie say that three children and two adults have been hospitalized since April after smelling strange fumes in the halls. Six students, ages 5 to 14, were also hospitalized after testing positive for carbon monoxide in June, but released after days.
As the mercury continues to soar, problems related to air quality in schools are becoming increasingly common. Environmental Health Ontario warns that schools should make sure windows are kept closed, fans running and faucets hosed down for as long as possible to prevent CO poisoning. “Schools should not install standby air conditioning,” according to EHI. “Schools should make sure all facilities are adequately equipped with carbon monoxide detectors. If CO detectors do not exist or are not functioning properly, schools should check for breakdowns. In severe cases, schools should have emergency generators and emergency plans. School staff should be trained on disaster response and evacuation procedures.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, carbon monoxide is sometimes a silent killer. While unintentional exposure to CO can occur when gasoline or propane are used to power appliances like stoves, pools, air conditioners, furnaces, space heaters and stoves, more commonly, the gas is found in stagnant pools of dust, oil, and gas or oil cans. “It is difficult to predict how high a concentration of CO gas will rise in an enclosed space without the ability to contact key indicators for the gas,” states the CDC. “Most people are not aware of the dangers of carbon monoxide.”
Coincidentally, over the weekend, 46 people in Massachusetts were treated in hospitals in 30 hospitalizations for breathing problems after a gas leak at a family day camp in Middlesex County. According to Con-Ed Electric, an electrical fire in the base of a gas line turned off electricity to over 500 households across Cambridge, Foxborough, Milton, and Waltham.
