Why are gas leaks dangerous?

If you have heard about explosions that happened due to gas leaks in the house, you will realize that it can be very dangerous. Let’s look into the problem of gas leaks. We normally get to know that there is a natural gas leak in the house through the smell. It is the smell of a rotten egg. This smell has been added to the carbon-hydrogen compound so that it warns the people of the leakage of gas into the air. ‘Can a gas leak kill people?’ The answer is ‘Yes’. If the levels of gas leakage is high it could cause death.

In many homes natural gas is used for the gas stoves and water heaters. There are many new appliances that run on natural gas too. When natural gas is burned correctly, it produces water vapor and carbon dioxide and give out much lesser greenhouse emissions than wood, coal and oil. Natural gas is used very widely because it's highly combustible and can produce large amounts of heat even when you burn small amounts. Due to the highly combustible nature of the gas, a gas leak can lead to the risk of fire and explosion since it spreads quickly and combusts easily. An electrical spark or fire source can set this off if you have a leak in your house.

If you sense that the gas could be leaking you should immediately stop what you're doing. Do NOT switch on any electrical switches, use or unplug anything. Go outside the house. Inhaling high concentrations of gas is also dangerous since it can lead to asphyxia, a condition when the body is deprived of oxygen. This could cause death too. The first symptoms of asphyxia include fatigue and chest pain.

When gas is used sometimes it does not burn up completely and emits a byproduct of carbon monoxide. This could be due to faulty installation or lack of ventilation. When there is more carbon monoxide present in the air, it means that there is less oxygen for you to breathe in. This too has the potential to cause death. Reports say that around 500 people in the United States alone die of unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning every year. [source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention].

Due to the problem of gas leaks, a device called Carbon Monoxide Detectors is used to monitor the levels of gas in the house. This device alerts you if the levels of gas in your house becomes unsafe. If you use a gas stove at home, it means that there are about five to 15 parts per million of natural gas in the air inside your home. Having more than 30 parts per million would cross into dangerous levels of natural gas and this would mean that you have a faulty stove.

How do you know if the levels of gas in your house are safe? You can buy a natural gas detector or a carbon monoxide detector that will sound an alarm if gas levels have exceeded the safety threshold. Moreover it is very important that we ensure good ventilation in our homes to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning. You could install a carbon monoxide detector. This device sounds an alarm if the air contains a high level of carbon monoxide.