The Gas Safety Trust (GST) has awarded a grant to Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) to complete Phase 3 of the Carbon Monoxide National Monitoring Study.
The 12 month research project is part of an ongoing study into the levels of carbon monoxide (CO) found in the home. The project builds on the work previously carried out by the University alongside Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service and will create a standardised method of data collection relating to carbon monoxide including a screen for smokers. The project will reach as many as 75,000 homes in the North West.
Chris Bielby, GST Chairman, highlighted the importance of the research:
“I am delighted that the Gas Safety Trust is funding this important project which will help us understand how we can better record incidence of carbon monoxide poisoning in the home, especially those at lower levels.
Thanks to the actions of the gas industry, who have been proactive in their response to carbon monoxide prevention, fatalities in the UK have significantly declined over the last forty years.
Whilst we cannot be complacent about this, we should be pleased that this is the case and it is right that we look at carbon monoxide from all sources but especially poisoning that occurs at lower levels and over a sustained period of time”
Dr. Andy Shaw, CO project Manager said,
“I am pleased and delighted about the Gas Safety Trust award which can only reflect on the concentrated and collective efforts of academics at LJMU, five Fire and Rescue Services, Merseyside, Cornwall, Bedfordshire, South Yorkshire and Oxfordshire and the Council for Gas Detection and Environmental Monitoring (CoGDEM) to undertake a comprehensive CO investigations covering 75,000 households”
Professor Ahmed Al-Shamma’a, Director of Built Environment and Sustainable Technologies (BEST) Research Institute, School of Built Environment said:
“The support of the Gas Safety Trust is a true testament to our LJMU CO Centre of Excellence in funding high quality of research with regard to understanding the effects of low-high exposure to CO over extended period of time. The expected outcome of such investigations will certainly have a tremendous impact on our society and environment”
Data from the previous stage of this project showed that levels of carbon monoxide in the home were in many cases higher than expected. Researchers also found that, the number of carbon monoxide alarms in homes is much lower than previously thought. This confirms fears that there is a large population at risk from low-level carbon monoxide poisoning