Six hospitalized with carbon monoxide poisoning in St. Paul

Six people were hospitalized in St. Paul with possible carbon monoxide poisoning Sunday.

St. Paul Fire Department says it was called to a property on the 800 block of Edmund Avenue on a report of potential CO poisoning.

Six people, which included some children, were taken to a hospital for treatment.

Problems with the property's ventilation and furnace are believed to have been behind the emergency.

CO poisoning

Carbon monoxide (CO) is an odorless, colorless and tasteless gas that's formed by the incomplete combustion of fuels, which can build up indoors and there's no way to detect a problem until you become sick (unless you have a working CO detector), the Minnesota Department of Health's (MDH) website says.

When people are exposed to CO gas, the molecules displace the oxygen in their bodies, which leads to poisoning. It's estimated that about 400 people die from unintentional CO exposure in the U.S. every year, with about 14 people in Minnesota dying from it a year.

MDH says CO poisoning can be prevented by installing a CO alarm and maintaining fuel-burning appliances, such as clothes dryers, water heaters, furnaces/boilers, gas and wood fireplaces, gas stoves and ovens, motor vehicles, grills, generators, power tools, lawn equipment, wood stoves and tobacco smoke.

For more information, visit the MDH's website on carbon monoxide here.