Londoners face carbon monoxide poisoning, say researchers

MOST households in London could be at risk from carbon monoxide poisoning because they don’t realise the dangers, a survey has found. One-out-of-10 homes are at risk from the highly-poisonous gas that has no colour taste and smell

By Mike Brooke

MOST households in London could be at risk from carbon monoxide poisoning because they don’t realise the dangers, a survey has found.

Researchers say one-out-of-10 homes are at risk from the highly-poisonous gas that has no colour taste and smell.

It is impossible to detect without an audible alarm, the carbon monoxide be alarmed’ campaign warns.

Presenter Kirstie Allsopp, from TV’s Location, Location, Location show, who is fronting the campaign for more audio detectors, said: “I’m shocked at how few people realise the risks.

“Audible alarms are the only way to be sure of detecting this silent killer.”

Nearly-one-in-five London households t think carbon monoxide poisoning is rare, the survey findings released today show.

Londoners are also less well-informed than other regions of Britain, say campaigners.

Researchers found 41 per cent did not know carbon monoxide has no smell, compared with 18 per cent national average, 32 per cent didn’t know it is invisible (compared with nine per cent) and 31 per cent didn’t know it was harmful (eight per cent).