The Center for Disease Control reports that over 400 Americans die from carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning every year, typically in their home or car. Many of these deaths occur during the winter months. These are the months when people heat their homes while minimizing outside ventilation. Although CO levels may not prove high enough to be fatal, they can still result in serious illnesses. CO poisonings account for nearly 50,000 visits to hospital emergency departments each year.

The Illinois Poison Center logs over 74,000 calls on poisoning exposures each year. Poison centers across the nation manage over 2.1 million cases each year. It may surprise you that 90% of these incidents occur in the home. Furthermore, some of the most common exposures involve toxic substances we all use or come in contact with relatively often.