Daylight Saving Time is nearly upon us. This is also the time of year that the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) urges consumers to replace the batteries in their carbon monoxide (CO) and smoke alarms.
There was an average of 386, 3000 residential fires and almost 2,400 deaths between 2006 and 2008, according to estimates by the CPSC.
About two-thirds of fire deaths occur in those homes that don’t have properly working alarms or no alarms at all. That is why it is important to replace batteries yearly at the very least to ensure they are properly working.
CPSC estimates there was an annual average of 183 unintentional non-fire CO poisoning deaths associated with consumer products between 2006 and 2008. CO is known as the “invisible killer,” because it is a colorless, odorless and poisonous gas and as such many don’t even know they are being poisoned.
CO poisoning is the leading cause of accidental poisoning death in the United States – each year, it kills than 400 people.
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