Your GP will diagnose carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning based on a combination of physical and environmental factors such as:
- your symptoms
- information relating to your household, such as your heating and cooking appliances
If you have the symptoms of CO poisoning, a blood sample will be taken to check the amount of carboxyhaemoglobin in your blood. A level of 30% indicates severe exposure.
An electrocardiogram (ECG) may also be carried out to investigate how well your heart is pumping blood around your body.
Be aware of the signs and symptoms
It is very important to be aware of the dangers of CO poisoning, and to look out for the warning signs.
As well as the effects of CO gas that are described in Carbon monoxide poisoning - symptoms, the following situations can also be signs of CO poisoning:
- other people in your house, flat or workplace who have similar symptoms
- your symptoms disappear when you go away on holiday and return when you come back
- your symptoms tend to be seasonal, for example, you get headaches more often during the winter when the central heating is used more frequently
Other possible signs of a CO leak in your home include:
- black sooty marks on the front cover (radiants) of gas fires
- sooty marks on the wall around boilers, stoves or fires
- smoke building up in rooms as a result of faulty flues
- yellow instead of blue flames coming from gas appliances
Stop using all gas appliances
If several people in the same building develop flu-like symptoms without a temperature, and you think it could be linked to a CO leak, you should:
- immediately stop using all your cooking and heating appliances that use fuel other than electricity
- open all of the windows in your house or building
- move away from the source of the CO gas
- call the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Gas Safety Advice Line on 0800 300 363 for advice (freephone service)
- visit your GP as soon as possible
If you have a CO leak, ask a suitably qualified engineer to inspect your cooking appliances, central heating and water heating appliances, to check that they are safe.
