All, One of my colleagues and I received a call today from one of the fire chiefs in our County regarding high carbon monoxide readings in an enclosed space. This unto itself would not be a problem, simply ventilating and turning off the CO producing device should suffice to eliminate the source. There was no active device to produce the CO, no actively running fuel burning device anywhere to be found. Upon further inspection, it was observed that the CO reading increased when the instrument was near the sump-pump, and that the battery in the back-up for the pump was without water and that most of the plate area in the lead-acid battery were exposed without electrolyte. A small amount of heat was observed, but the battery was not on fire. The CO readings dropped in the space once the battery unit was removed from the basement. The occupant of the building complained of fatigue and was treated at the scene. The meter used for the analysis was a MSA 5 Star, which uses a electronic sensor, for measuring CO. Unfortunately, wetted pH paper on the tip of the meter input was not used, which would make this a simple determination. I suspect that the battery had lost nearly all of its water, and was possibly vaporizing the sulfuric acid, what surprised me was the false CO reading and that the patient's symptoms mimic those of CO poisoning. Have others in our very knowledgeable group observed anything similar to this scenario? Best, Jay Toigo Eastern Pennsylvania
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