Carbon Monoxide (CO) Alarms...

[Dale_M]

Interesting reading for those who are using or considering using Carbon Monoxide (CO) detectors as a safety device in your studio...

http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=426746

There may not be an advantage to using them for short time, immediate protection. In fact it may be actually giving you a false sense of security and doing you harm...

Dale

[MikeAurelius]

IMO, they are totally useless for the lampworking studio, unless you are working in a basement with other gas using appliances. In that single special case, they can alert you to the fact that you have inadequate fresh air supply and are back-drafting your furnace/water heater/clothes dryer.

[Vince]

I am strongly in favor of the biometric CO monitors that mimic the cumulative response curve of human blood absorption of CO and have a similar recovery time. The downside of these sorts of monitors is that thay have limited life (6-months to 1 year) and need to be replaced on schedule to be effective. The up-side is that they are reasonably inexpensive. They are commonly used in aircraft cockpits where the consequences of CO poisoning and temporary impairment are somewhat more severe than in a lampworking studio.

I use these types of monitors in my own lampworking spaces.

Vince

[Karen]

And where would one purchase these, Vince?

[Vince]

Karen,

if you search the Safety Forum and find the thread "Ventilation for Classes" in May of 2004 you will find a discussion of these sensors, a brand name, and sources of supply. No doubt there are other sources of supply to be found on the internet.

I'd repeat the information here, but the entire thread is useful.

Vince

[Kuehlmorgen_D]

... and here's the link to go there:
http://www.isgb.org/forum/showthread.php?t=5495

Dietmar

[Vince]

The links in that thread are out of date. Here is a current source for the Quantum Eye CO detector that has a biometric response curve. Price is still $8.95.

http://www.bestglide.com/Quantum_Eye_Info.html

Vince