July 2003
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Beware carbon-monoxide hazards on the water The silent killer known as carbon monoxide (CO) can imperil boaters as well as people at home. CO has killed at least 93 people while they were boating and sickened nearly 400 others. On average, about 750 people are killed in boating accidents each year, a number that has been declining. But CO hazards were identified fairly recently, focusing on incidents involving houseboats on Lake Powell, Az. Regular investigation and tracking of incidents continually turns up greater numbers of deaths and poisonings. On a boat, CO comes from the exhaust emissions of the engine driving the boat, the engine powering a generator, or a cookstove or heater. CO becomes a problem on the water in several ways:
What are industry and government doing? The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has taken an effective action--tightening emissions standards for new outboard motors. The EPA regulations, which took effect in 1998, don't specifically address CO emissions, but they have the effect of drastically reducing emissions of that gas. The government agencies and industry bodies most closely involved with boating safety have taken few tangible steps to reduce CO hazards. The U.S. Coast Guard issued mandatory recall notices in February 2001 to all houseboat manufacturers who may have built boats with a flawed exhaust-system design. Six manufacturers had earlier agreed to a voluntary recall. But a Coast Guard official told us that no other recalls are in the offing; instead, the official said the agency is looking to consumer education and voluntary adoption of improved exhaust systems, catalytic converters, and the like. "Our desire is to work with industry to avoid the need to have a new law," says Richard Blackman, in the Coast Guard's Recreation and Boating Product Assurance Division. The American Boat and Yacht Council, an industry standards-setting organization, requires every boat with an inboard engine or gasoline generator to have a CO detector. Beyond that, the council says only that it is "assessing the need for modification" of its standards in light of the death and accident statistics. What you can do Experts we spoke with advised boat owners to follow these steps to minimize exposure to CO:
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