About carbon monoxide poisoning

Carbon monoxide can be produced from all sorts of combustion sources, including cars and trucks, small gasoline engines, stoves, lanterns, burning charcoal and wood, gas ranges and heating systems. The colorless, odorless gas can build up in enclosed or semi-enclosed spaces, including garages, homes, ice fishing shacks, cabins and arenas.

Red blood cells pick up carbon monoxide more quickly than they pick up oxygen, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If there is a lot of carbon monoxide in the air, the body may replace oxygen in blood with carbon monoxide. This blocks oxygen from getting into the body, which can damage tissues and result in death.

The most common symptoms are headache, dizziness, weakness, nausea, vomiting, chest pain and confusion. High levels of carbon monoxide inhalation can cause loss of consciousness and death. Unless it’s quickly suspected, poisoning can be difficult to diagnose because the symptoms mimic other illnesses. People who are sleeping or intoxicated can die before experiencing symptoms.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “skaters especially may be at risk for CO poisoning because they are engaged in strenuous activity that increases total lung ventilation and oxygen consumption.” State officials also note that the gas tends to build up near ice level, not high in the rafters.

As recently as Feb. 6, 2011, high levels of carbon monoxide sickened more than 60 people at a youth hockey tournament in Gunnison, Colo. Two young girls required treatment in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber and were flown to a Denver hospital. It was later reported that a faulty ventilation system allowed carbon monoxide from a gas-powered Zamboni to build up inside the facility.

Minnesota arena air rules will be getting tougher

Minnesota, now with about 280 indoor ice arenas, first enacted indoor arena air-quality rules in 1973 and is one of only three states — along with Massachusetts and Rhode Island — that have such rules.

Those rules, last updated in 1977, are about to get even tougher: