As power outages become more frequent in the US there are rising cases of carbon monoxide (CO) poisonings reported at the emergency departments of hospitals. A new study highlights increasing CO deaths as one consequence of prolonged blackouts. Researchers found that carbon monoxide poisonings spiked during those disruptions, versus the days immediately before. Looking at some of the major power outages in the country between 2007 and 2018, the study pointed out that there was a proportionate increase in the number of CO poisoning hospitalisations. According to the lead researcher Dr. Christopher Worsham, the pattern is not surprising. More than 1,400 people reportedly ended up in the emergency department, and at least 11 died last year, when a winter storm swept across Texas, causing a massive power outage. 

During major power outages, people often fall victim to this after running power generators indoors, or bringing outdoor heat and cooking sources — like charcoal grills and campfire stoves — into the home. In some cases, people tried to use a gas stove as a heat source, or ran a car in a closed garage, in an effort to warm up or charge batteries. CO is an invisible, odorless gas produced when fuels — including gasoline, coal, wood and natural gas — are incompletely burned. When people breathe in CO, it replaces oxygen in the bloodstream and can prove fatal, the study said. CO poisonings are mostly related to furnaces and other indoor appliances that are faulty or improperly ventilated to the outdoors. During a typical year, CO poisoning sends more than 20,000 Americans to the emergency room, and kills upwards of 400, confirms another report by US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).