US: Carbon monoxide deaths on the rise as economy sours

[dcsmart]

"With each passing week, the global economic slump brings news of further deterioration in the conditions of the working class. From foreclosures and layoffs to declining pensions, workers face increasing difficulty, even as the ruling elite prepares more handouts for large corporations and the wealthy."


"One stark indicator of just how much the working class is pushed to the limit was indicated in a January 6 report from MSNBC.com. The report shows that increasing numbers of American families, facing utility shutoffs and winter storms, are heating their homes by dangerous means with deadly results."


"The cutoff of electric and/or gas service subjects affected households, particularly in the cold winter months, to the danger of house fires. But these families are also threatened with illness and potential death by a silent killer—poisonous carbon monoxide gas."


"Mark Wolfe, the director of the National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association (NEADA), stated that in recent years 2 to 3 percent of residential energy consumers have their power disconnected. This year, it is between 7 and 8 percent. Underscoring the rapid downward spiral of the economy, he added, “Families that were middle class last week are not middle class anymore.”


"More-economically depressed areas exhibit a higher frequency of utility shutoffs and associated misery. In October, the Detroit area saw a 20 percent increase in shutoffs compared to the same month in 2007. At least 14,000 energy customers in the Detroit Metro area have had their power shut off this season."


"With their main source of heat abruptly disconnected, families struggle to keep warm by employing various other sources of heat, such as kerosene heaters, gas generators and improperly maintained wood stoves and fireplaces. Such heat sources carry a heavy risk of carbon monoxide poisoning, which occurs when this byproduct of combustion accumulates in an enclosed space."

"A survey by the American Red Cross and the National Fire Prevention Association found that almost 80 percent of respondents worried that they would not be able to afford their heating bills this winter."

"In spite of its own reporting, the MSNBC.com article concludes that the increase in carbon monoxide poisoning is largely a question of awareness of the dangers of carbon monoxide. If people only knew that certain measures to keep warm were dangerous, the problem would resolve itself. This only begs the question, as to why people resort to such desperate measures to stay warm in the first place."


FULL ARTICLE:
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/jan2009/mono-j13.shtml