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Twenty million
households in the UK are putting themselves at risk of Carbon
Monoxide poisoning, warns Catherine Stihler MEP.
Catherine Stihler is
supporting a UK campaign, ‘Carbon Monoxide – Be Alarmed’, which
encourages people to use audible Carbon Monoxide alarms and that
they have all their gas, oil and solid-fuel burning alliances
serviced annually by a registered and qualified engineer. The
high-profile campaign is backed by victims’ charities, professional
organisations, energy companies, and Kirsty Allsopp of Channel 4’s
‘Location Location Location’.
Mrs Stihler
commented:
“I am very concerned
about carbon monoxide safety in homes and hotels.
We all remember the
tragic deaths in 2006 of the two little children from Wakefield,
England who died while on holiday in Corfu due to a faulty gas
boiler”.
Mrs Stihler
added:
“I would like to see a
requirement for all new homes and hotel rooms where gas is
used, to be fitted with an alarm and for landlords and hotel
managers to provide an alarm before they can receive their gas
certificate.
Audible alarms only cost
£15 and can be fitted in seconds. These vital few seconds can
save lives”.
Carbon Monoxide is a
highly poisonous gas which can kill or cause lasting damage to your
health. The early symptoms of poisoning can include nausea,
dizziness, tiredness, headaches, loss of balance and forgetfulness.
Research conducted for the campaign showed that only six per cent
of people would describe themselves as “very confident” that they
would recognise the symptoms, which can easily be confused with
those of other illnesses, such as flu.
Zoe Forman, spokesperson
for the Carbon Monoxide – Be Alarmed! campaign, said:
“Carbon Monoxide has no
colour, odour or taste and is impossible to detect without an
alarm. It’s essential that the public know how to protect
themselves and their loved ones. This is the first time that such a
broad alliance of organisations has come together to campaign on
the issue of Carbon Monoxide poisioning, and we are delighted that
Catherine Stihler MEP has joined the campaign”.
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Carbon Monoxide
