Combustion Pollutants

Combustion Pollutants
Combustion appliances are those which burn fuels for heat, cooking, or decorative reasons. Typical fuels are gas, both natural and liquefied petroleum (LP), kerosene; oil, coal, and wood. Examples of the appliances are space heaters, ranges, ovens, stoves, furnaces, fireplaces, water heaters, and clothes dryers. These kinds of appliances are usually safe. However, under particular conditions, these appliances can produce combustion contaminants that can harm your health, or even kill you.

What are Combustion Pollutants? Home Inspection Houston
Combustion pollutants are gases or particles that come from burning materials. The combustion pollutants come from burning fuels in appliances. The kinds and quantities of pollutants generated hinge on the type of appliance, how well the appliance is installed, maintained, and vented out, and the kind of fuel it uses. Many of the common pollutants produced from burning these fuels are carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, particles, and sulfur dioxide. Particles can have hazardous chemicals attached to them. Other pollutants that might be produced by some appliances are unburned hydrocarbons and aldehydes. Combustion always generates water vapor. Water vapor is not usually considered a pollutant, but it can work as one. It can cause high humidity and wet surface areas.

Where do Combustion Pollutants Come From?
Combustion pollutants found indoors include outdoor air, tobacco smoke, exhaust from car and mower internal combustion engines, and some hobby activities such as welding, woodburning, and soldering. Combustion pollutants can also come from vented or unvented combustion appliances. These kinds of appliances include space heaters, gas ranges and ovens, furnaces, gas water heaters, gas clothes dryers, wood or coal-burning stoves, and fireplaces. As a group these are called "combustion appliances.".

Appliances.
Vented appliances are appliances made for being used with a duct, chimney, pipe, or other device that carry the combustion pollutants outside the home. These appliances can release large quantities of contaminants directly into your home, if a vent is not properly installed, or is obstructed or leaking. Unvented appliances do not vent to the outside, so they discharge combustion pollutants directly into the home. Take a look at the box below for typical appliance problems that cause the release of pollutants in your home. Many of these problems are hard for a homeowner to identify. A professional is needed.

What are the Health Effects of Combustion Pollutants?Home Inspection Houston
The health effects of combustion pollutants vary from headaches and respiration difficulties to death. The health effects may appear immediately after exposure or occur after being exposed to the pollutants for a long time. The effects depend upon the type and quantity of pollutants and the length of time of exposure to them. They also depend upon several factors associated with the exposed person. These include the age and any existing health problems. There are still some questions about the level of pollutants or the period of exposure needed to generate certain health effects. Further studies to better define the discharge of pollutants from combustion appliances and their health effects are needed.

The sections below discuss health problems associated with some common combustion pollutants. These pollutants include carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, particles, and sulfur dioxide. Even if you are healthy, high levels of carbon monoxide can kill you within a short time. The health effects of the other pollutants are generally more subtle and are more likely to affect susceptible people. It is always a good idea to reduce exposure to combustion pollutants by using and maintaining combustion appliances properly.

Carbon Monoxide:.
Each year, according to CPSC, there are more than 200 carbon monoxide deaths related to the use of all types of combustion appliances in the home. Exposure to carbon monoxide reduces the blood's ability to carry oxygen. Often a person or an entire family may not recognize that carbon monoxide is poisoning them. The chemical is odorless and some of the symptoms are similar to common illnesses. This is particularly dangerous because carbon monoxide's deadly effects will not be recognized until it is too late to take action against them. Carbon monoxide exposures especially affect unborn babies, infants, and people with anemia or a history of heart disease. Breathing low levels of the chemical can cause fatigue and increase chest pain in people with chronic heart disease. Breathing higher levels of carbon monoxide causes symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, and weakness in healthy people. Carbon monoxide also causes sleepiness, nausea, vomiting, confusion, and disorientation. At very high levels it causes loss of consciousness and death
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How can I reduce my exposure to combustion pollutants?
Proper selection, installation, inspection and maintenance of your appliances are extremely important in minimizing your exposure to these pollutants. Providing good ventilation in your house and properly using your appliance can also reduce your exposure to these pollutants. Additionally, there are many different residential carbon monoxide detectors for sale. These detectors would certainly warn consumers of harmful carbon monoxide levels in the home. They may soon be widely available to reduce deaths from carbon monoxide poisoning
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Ventilation.
To reduce indoor air pollution, a good supply of fresh outdoor air is needed. The movement of air into and out of your home is very important. Normally, air comes through cracks around doors and windows. This air helps in reducing the level of pollutants indoors. This supply of fresh air is also important to assist carry pollutants up the chimney, stovepipe, or flue to the outside.
Keep doors open to the rest of the house from the room where you are using an unvented gas space heater or kerosene heater, and crack open a window. Make certain that your vented appliance has the vent connected and that nothing is blocking it. Make sure there are no holes or cracks in the vent. Do not vent gas clothes dryers or water heaters into the house for heating. This is unsafe.This allows enough air for proper combustion and reduces the level of pollutants, especially carbon monoxide.
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Home Inspection Houston and Servicing.
Have your combustion appliance routinely inspected and maintained to lower your exposure to pollutants. Appliances that are not functioning correctly can discharge harmful as well as fatal amounts of pollutants, especially carbon monoxide. Have chimneys and vents examined when installing or changing vented heating appliances. Some modifications may be needed. For example, if a change was made in your heating system from oil to natural gas, the flue gas produced by the gas system could be hot enough to melt built up oil combustion debris in the chimney or vent. This debris could block the vent forcing pollutants into the house. It is important to clean your chimney and vents especially when changing heating systems.

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