GAS LEAK SYMPTOMS
Leaking Natural Gas Can Endanger Your Health
Some 65 million American homes have appliances safely powered by natural gas. However, it’s an energy source that has its dangers. If a gas line, appliance or connection springs a leak or malfunctions, the poisonous gas can escape into your home. If it doesn’t burn fully and correctly, toxic carbon dioxide can result. Breathing both can have an ill effect on your well being and possibly be fatal. Be aware of gas leak symptoms and what to do if you get poisoned.
How To Detect a Gas Leak in Your Home or on Your Property
There are a number of indicators that can help you detect leaking natural gas in your home or along the gas line on your property. Be aware of the smells, sights and sounds that signal the presence of a leak.
A foul odor like rotten eggs from a chemical compound added to odorless natural gas to indicate that it’s leaking.
A persistent hissing sound along gas lines or at connections.
A pilot light that’s out or burns yellow or orange and not a clean blue.
Persistent bubbling in standing water.
Discolored or dead vegetation around the pipeline area.
Dense white cloud or fog.
Slight mist or ice.
Unexplained frozen ground near the pipeline.
Symptoms of Poisoning From a Gas Leak & What to Do
Natural gas leaks can be indicated by the distinctive rotten eggs odor or detected through other signs (see our guide to gas leak detection). But even with caution taken, sometimes you might still breathe in natural gas or carbon dioxide (created when natural gas is burned). Both can be poisonous and even fatal, though if you act quickly the symptoms and effects are usually only temporary.
- Natural gas poisoning symptoms include headache, dizziness, nausea, eye and throat irritation, fatigue and breathing problems. If any of the symptoms fade when you leave the house and increase when home, that’s a sign that a leak may be infecting you. Another indication is if others in your house have the same symptoms.
- If liquid or compressed natural gas comes into contact with your skin, it can turn pale and cause blisters.
- Carbon monoxide can be emitted at dangerous levels if gas isn’t burning cleanly or fully, and the burner isn’t sufficiently ventilated. Breathing it can cause symptoms similar to the flu, food poisoning, fatigue and viral infections. Again, you may be getting poisoned if the symptoms are worse at home and others there are feeling them.
- If you suspect you have been breathing natural gas or carbon monoxide, leave the building you are in and get outside into the fresh air.
- If the symptoms persist, go to an emergency room or call EMS,
- Do not go back inside your home until after the gas leak has been fixed and the house aired out.
Keep yourself and your family safe with a natural gas/carbon monoxide detector.