Carbon Monoxide

In a major boost toward cleaning up the smoggy Los Angeles Basin, the state Air Resources Board on Thursday ordered stringent new tailpipe emission controls on cars and pickup trucks beginning in the 1993 model year. The standard was approved on an 8-0 vote over the objections of automobile manufacturers, who warned that it would be too costly and technologically difficult to meet. The South Coast Air Quality Management District and some environmentalists praised the new standard as a major step forward, although they said the plan does not go far enough and takes too long to go into effect.

In the run-up to what could be a record-setting Powerball jackpot, officials say that slightly more than half of the possible number combinations have been sold. Though ticket sales are expected to continue steadily through Saturday, the figures as of Friday morning leave open the significant possibility that the jackpot will again roll over. California Lottery spokesman Alex Traverso said that if it does, players could by vying for a $1-billion jackpot next week. The odds of winning Powerball are about 1 in 175 million, which means there are approximately 175 million possible number combinations.

Cigarette smoking may have earned a reputation as an unhealthy, cancer-causing pastime, but water pipes seem to have largely evaded the stigma. Now, new research shows that water pipes may simply be dangerous in slightly different ways, according to a study in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention. Water pipes, also known as hookah, shisha and a host of other aliases, are a common social activity in the Middle East and have been growing in popularity: a 2011 study found more than 40% of college students had used a hookah , and many of them appeared to believe it was safer than cigarette smoking.

Cigarette smoking may have earned a reputation as an unhealthy, cancer-causing pastime, but water pipes seem to have largely evaded the stigma. Now, new research shows that water pipes may simply be dangerous in slightly different ways, according to a study in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention. Water pipes, also known as hookah, shisha and a host of other aliases, are a common social activity in the Middle East and have been growing in popularity: a 2011 study found more than 40% of college students had used a hookah , and many of them appeared to believe it was safer than cigarette smoking.

Carbon monoxide gas can kill quickly and without warning. Bodies found in a Baltimore apartment building and a Florida motel underscore the tragedy of accidental carbon monoxide poisonings that claim hundreds of American lives each year. This Baltimore Sun story explains the Tuesday incident: "Chief Kevin Cartwright, a city fire department spokesman, said that two people were pronounced dead on the scene and three victims, including a child, were taken to Maryland Shock Trauma Center for treatment.

In the run-up to what could be a record-setting Powerball jackpot, officials say that slightly more than half of the possible number combinations have been sold. Though ticket sales are expected to continue steadily through Saturday, the figures as of Friday morning leave open the significant possibility that the jackpot will again roll over. California Lottery spokesman Alex Traverso said that if it does, players could by vying for a $1-billion jackpot next week. The odds of winning Powerball are about 1 in 175 million, which means there are approximately 175 million possible number combinations.

A section of York County Prison in Pennsylvania remained off limits to inmates Friday after nearly 50 prisoners were hospitalized with what appears to be carbon monoxide poisoning, county officials told the Los Angeles Times. On Wednesday night, 49 female inmates were taken to the hospital after showing symptoms related breathing in the colorless, odorless gas. Prison officials believe the gas came from a leak in that unit's heating, ventilation and air conditioning system. The unit was shut down and the area was ventilated Wednesday and Thursday.

Question: I recently bought a duplex. I need to complete repairs to the property in order to list the two units for rental. A friend recently told me that I have to install a carbon monoxide detector as well as a smoke detector if I rent out one of the units. Are these devices necessary? Answer: The California law regarding the installation of carbon monoxide detectors is being gradually phased in. Carbon monoxide detectors were required in all single-family dwellings as of July.

A Riverside woman who was found dead in her car may have died of carbon monoxide poisoning, police said Tuesday. A coroner's autopsy conducted Tuesday morning was inconclusive, a deputy coroner said. Coroner's investigators will begin a series of toxicology tests to try to determine the exact cause of death. Investigators said the woman, Deborah Annette Vinton, 38, was sleeping in her car and may have been overcome by carbon monoxide blown into the car's interior by its heater.

Four family members were found dead Monday in their home of apparent carbon monoxide poisoning, bringing the death toll from the Northwest's worst storm in a decade to 14. The four -- one woman and three males -- were found in a home in Burien, a south Seattle suburb, along with another relative who was clinging to life, said King County sheriff's Sgt. John Urquhart. Like many in the area left without power after the storm, they had been running a generator in their garage, authorities said.

SACRAMENTO -- Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday hailed the federal Environmental Protection Agency's embrace of proposed clean-fuel standards to be implemented across the country. "For decades, California has carefully crafted emissions standards to protect the health of people and other living things," Brown said in a statement. "Now the Federal government is joining with us to apply the same standards to the rest of the nation. The result will be improved health for millions of people.

Federal experts on Tuesday gave a potentially passing grade to the inmate medical care provided at a California prison in Tuolumne County, the third state prison to get such a review, despite lapses in care and the suspected carbon monoxide poisoning death of an inmate firefighter. The latest evaluation concludes the Sierra Conservation Center will be providing adequate medical care once planned building improvements are made. The prison was inspected by experts working for the U.S. District Court, which is monitoring inmate care statewide.

Much of the Northeast struggled on Sunday to dig out from the massive weekend blizzard.  By evening, a 27-mile stretch of the snow-covered Long Island Expressway remained closed, a day after vehicles became mired there during the blizzard. At New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's request, more than 400 snowplow trucks and 700 employees headed to Suffolk County. The county, along with coastal areas in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, were hit hard by the powerful blizzard, which broke snowfall records in some regions.

As Sixto Nunez surveyed the road conditions in Long Island on Saturday, he started to get anxious. The 40-year-old Dominican immigrant had already braved three New York winters, but this was different. The plowed snow mounds looked menacing and, a few miles away, hundreds of cars, trucks and snowplows were marooned on the Long Island Expressway. “All I saw was snow,” Sixto said in Spanish. “It was bad, there was way too much snow.” Nunez turned to his friend, who had planned to take him home, and asked to go to the closest place he knew where he could stay warm and avoid the streets: Wal-Mart.

BOSTON - The snow fell and fell, and when it stopped, New Englanders climbed out of their homes, got out their shovels, and started digging out from one of the biggest blizzards in a generation. By the time the sun peeked out of the clouds Saturday afternoon, the winter storm had dumped more than 2 feet of snow in cities across the Northeast, forced evacuations in some coastal communities, contributed to more than half a million customers losing power across six states and grounded thousands of flights.

A 14-year-old Massachusetts boy died Saturday of carbon monoxide poisoning after warming himself in a running car while his father shoveled snow. Boston's mayor promptly issued a new warning of the perils associated with the massive Northeast blizzard. The boy had been helping his dad shovel snow Saturday near the family's sedan, and hopped into the running car to warm up, Boston fire spokesman Steve MacDonald told The Times. But a mound of snow had blocked the exhaust pipe, preventing the poisonous carbon monoxide from escaping, MacDonald said.

The City Council moved a step closer Thursday to putting carbon monoxide detectors in the homes of Los Angeles seniors and disabled by supporting a motion by Councilman Hal Bernson to study the issue. The unanimous council action asks that the city's Housing Department make recommendations to the Housing and Community Redevelopment Committee on the possibility of providing qualified residents with the detectors.

A section of York County Prison in Pennsylvania remained off limits to inmates Friday after nearly 50 prisoners were hospitalized with what appears to be carbon monoxide poisoning, county officials told the Los Angeles Times. On Wednesday night, 49 female inmates were taken to the hospital after showing symptoms related breathing in the colorless, odorless gas. Prison officials believe the gas came from a leak in that unit's heating, ventilation and air conditioning system. The unit was shut down and the area was ventilated Wednesday and Thursday.

Question: I recently bought a duplex. I need to complete repairs to the property in order to list the two units for rental. A friend recently told me that I have to install a carbon monoxide detector as well as a smoke detector if I rent out one of the units. Are these devices necessary? Answer: The California law regarding the installation of carbon monoxide detectors is being gradually phased in. Carbon monoxide detectors were required in all single-family dwellings as of July.