December 12th, 2017
This report provides information about the number of unintentional non-fire deaths attributed to carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning that were associated with the use of consumer products in 1998.According to the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) totals, between 1994 and 1998, the total number of unintentional non-fire CO poisoning deaths, including those associated with consumer products under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and those associated with motor vehicle exhaust, averaged 516 annually (compared to the 1993 – 1997 average of 534). During this period, the estimated yearly average number of CO poisoning deaths attributed to motor vehicle exhaust was 316 or about 61 percent of all unintentional non-fire CO poisoning deaths (no change from 1993 – 1997). The remaining estimated 200 (39%) deaths were associated with consumer products and considered to be under the jurisdiction of the CPSC. The 1998 annual estimate of consumer product-related CO poisoning deaths was 180, identical to the previous year’s estimate. No significant increase or decrease is detectable for the most recent five years of data (1994 – 1998) as a result of the 1998 estimate. However, the 1998 estimate does contribute to the continuing significant downward trend in estimated CO deaths relative to 1980. Seventy-one percent of the estimated 180 CO deaths were associated with the use of heating systems, with natural gas heating accounting for 45 percent and liquefied petroleum (LP) gas heating accounting for 38 percent of heating deaths. Nine percent of CO deaths were associated with charcoal grills, six percent were associated with camp stoves and lanterns, and four percent were associated with gas water heaters. The remaining ten percent involved gas ranges and ovens and other appliances.According to 1998 data, some form of venting problem was noted in about 30 percent of the fatal incidents.Adults 45 years of age and older represented over 50 percent of CO deaths, the result of a steady increase since 1994. Sixty-nine percent of CO deaths occurred in the home in 1998, while deaths in tents and other camping shelters accounted for 26 percent of deaths. Deaths in these temporary types of shelters were mostly associated with LP gas camping heaters.A large percentage (68%) of the fatal 1998 incidents continued to claim only one fatality, although the percentage of fatal incidents involving multiple CO deaths increased by about 15 percent compared to 1994.Although it was not uncommon for non-fatal injuries to accompany fatalities in the fatal CO incidents, they were not quantified for analysis in this report.