Here’s the most boring sensor (and I hope it stays that way), Carbon monixide.
- Carbon monoxide is a poisonous colourless gas that has no smell or taste.
- Breathing it in can make you unwell, and it can kill if you’re exposed to high levels.
- It is present in the atmosphere at extremely low concentrations.
- It is a primarily a product of incomplete combustion and is extremely flammable and, in certain conditions, explosive.
- it is typically associated with poorly specified, poorly maintained or poorly ventilated heating systems – gas and oil central heating boilers, water heaters, cookers, ranges, wood stoves, paraffin stoves, open fireplaces etc.
- It can be produced anywhere where there is a heating system, homes, playgroups, schools, offices and more.
- It is also a major component of cigarette smoke,
- When carbon monoxide is inhaled, it enters your bloodstream and mixes with haemoglobin (the part of red blood cells that carry oxygen around your body), to form carboxyhaemoglobin.
- When this happens, the blood is no longer able to carry oxygen, and this lack of oxygen causes the body’s cells and tissue to fail and die.
- It is a known foetal developmental hazard, harming the unborn child. It has been associated with: low birth weight or size, learning disabilities, miscarriage.
