ABSTRACT
Carbon monoxide (CO) is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-irritating gas whose relative density is a little less than that of air. The most common sources of carbon monoxide in deaths are fires, automobile exhaust, defective heaters, and incomplete combustion of burning products, such as charcoal briquets. Carbon monoxide is produced whenever organic materials are burned with an inadequate supply of oxygen necessary to produce complete combustion. Excluding deaths during fires, there are approximately 2700 deaths caused by carbon monoxide annually in the U.S. Approximately 2000 of these are suicides and 700 are accidents.
