Unintentional Carbon Monoxide Poisoning From an Unlikely Source

Carbon monoxide poisoning is an occupational health risk across a broad range of industries and vocations (eg, firefighters, tollbooth operators, miners, mechanics).In 1995 carbon monoxide poisoning was the cause of 42 occupational fatalities in the United States. 1 In 1993,862 nonfatal cases of carbon monoxide poisoning resulted in days away from work.The manufacturing and retail trade industries accounted for the largest percentage of carbon monoxide poisonings (27.3 percent and 24.2 percent, respectively); the agriculture-forestry-fishing industry accounted for 3.1 percent. 2 Although these values appear to represent carbon monoxide poisoning at work as a rare event, the percentages are highly conservative.The symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning are nonspecific, and many nonfatal cases of carbon monoxide exposure go undetected.3 It has been estimated that one third of all carbon monoxide poisonings are undiagnosed.4 The most common sources of carbon monoxide are fire, vehicle exhaust, gasoline-powered engines (especially if operated in enclosed spaces), and poorly ventilated or faulty furnaces and heaters.s Most work-related carbon monoxide exposures are caused by exhaust from poorly ventilated vehicles and by gasoline-powered machines operated in enclosed areas.Carbon monoxide poisonings among construction workers have involved gasoline-powered washers in an underground parking garage, gasoline-powered forklifts in an enclosed warehouse, and gasoline-fueled