Toxic gasses can cause serious issues when they begin to leak into your home. These gasses could cause harm to you and your family in more ways than one. Some can go undetected because they don’t smell, look, or taste like anything. That’s why it’s important to perform regular gas checks in your home.
Common Home Gasses
Carbon Monoxide
Carbon Monoxide (CO) is one type of gas that doesn’t look, taste, or smell like anything so it’s hard to detect. Even worse, it’s both toxic and flammable. Because of this, breathing it at large quantities can cause serious health issues or death.
Radon
Radon is another hard-to-detect gas that can enter your home and cause harm to you and your family. It is radioactive and has no color, smell, or taste. Radon is a common gas in Colorado and the rest of the United States. It forms naturally in the soil beneath some homes. After the gas forms, it seeps up through the soil and can enter your house through cracks and holes. Once there, it can become trapped inside the house.
How to Check
Although these gasses are often hard to detect with the five senses, there are thankfully ways to test for them.
- Carbon monoxide detector: Along with a smoke alarm, every house should have a CO detector as well. Carbon monoxide can come from cars, boats, home appliances, generators, and plenty of other gas-operated sources. CO alarms will notify you and your family of any gas leaks, so it’s important to have one of these devices in any room that has one of these mechanisms.
- Radon test kit: Along with CO, it’s also possible to test for radon in your home. You can buy a kit or hire a professional to test for the presence of the gas. To test on your own, seal off your home (close windows, doors, etc), wait 12 hours, then set up the test on the first floor of your home or in your basement. Finally, send the test into the lab and await results.