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The Gas Safety Trust (GST) has launched an online portal for data and information relating to carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning in the UK.
The CO Portal comprises three main sections: legislation, standards and normative documents; an academic references database; data and documents that have been funded by GST grants and produced by others.
Speaking at the CO Portal launch in the Science Museum, London, GST chairman Chris Bielby said: “The Gas Safety Trust is pleased to be launching the first phase of our CO Portal project.
“Providing access to CO related information and data is an essential component of our strategy to improve knowledge and understanding of CO in the UK.”
Roland Wessling is project director of Cranfield University’s CO+ Impact study which aims to understand how many people are affected by carbon monoxide, where and to what degree.
According to NHS figures, more than 200 people in the UK are taken to hospital every year with suspected carbon monoxide poisoning, which leads to around 40 deaths.
The most common sources of carbon monoxide are incorrectly installed, poorly maintained or poorly ventilated household appliances – such as cookers, heaters and central heating boilers.
Blocked chimneys can also prevent carbon monoxide escaping, allowing it to reach dangerous levels.
Wessling explained that good data is an “essential foundation” for understanding how CO can endanger health. He went on to praise the Portal, saying it will provide researchers and the public with a “leg-up” in their process of understanding CO.
Baroness Finlay, co-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Carbon Monoxide Group (APPCOG), spoke about the importance of “comprehensive and easily-accessible” data in solving the “poisoning prevention puzzle”.
She said: “Given the often fragmented and disparate nature of where information related to carbon monoxide is held, the CO Portal is an important step forward in improving knowledge and understanding of this deadly gas and in improving our poisoning prevention activities.”
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