A deadly mistake! US officials warn two brands of carbon monoxide detectors sold on Amazon may not work, putting US households at risk from deadly gas
Carbon monoxide detectors sold online cannot detect dangerous levels of the potentially deadly gas, federal officials warn.
Testing found devices made by GLBSUNION and CUZMAK failed to flash red and began beeping loudly when exposed to dangerous levels of carbon monoxide.
They sold for between $16 and $40 at online retailers, including Amazon. Both devices are registered in Shenzhen, China.
Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) officials said the alarms were “highly likely” to result in death or injury.
They urged Americans to immediately take out and replace everything that was in their homes. Amazon said it removed the products from its store and customers who bought the alarms were warned and given full refunds.
Pictured above is the alarm being called. It is intended to detect carbon monoxide, but failed to do so during testing. Americans are now being advised to replace the alarms immediately
Carbon monoxide is an odorless, colorless and tasteless gas that can be highly toxic and flammable in high concentrations.
Each year, more than 200 people die from exposure to the gas or from fires caused by its release in the United States.
Late last year, 28 children and four adults were rushed to hospital after being poisoned by carbon monoxide at a Pennsylvania day care center.
In its opinion, the CPSC said: ‘If a carbon monoxide detector that does not warn of the presence of an elevated level of carbon monoxide is installed in a home and carbon monoxide enters the home, the consumer will not be warned of this harmful. gas.
‘[This] makes injury or death highly likely.”
The error with the alarms was noticed while testing the devices.
It’s not clear what caused it, although previous alarms didn’t work because parts of it malfunctioned.
Outdated alarms and alarms that have been exposed to excessive dust or moisture may also not work properly.
Both are made of white plastic and feature a digital display. Their dimensions are about four to 1.5 to four inches.
It was not clear how many had been sold in the US.
Registered in Shenzhen, China, GLBSUNION sells a variety of products on Amazon, including waterproof suitcases and women’s sportswear. Alarms are among the bestsellers.
CUZMAK is located in the same city and also operates under the name of Shenshenshi baojiada dianzishangwu youxian gongsi.
Standards set by regulatory agencies say carbon monoxide alarms should go off within four to 15 minutes when exposed to carbon monoxide levels above 400 parts per million (PPM).
Carbon monoxide is produced by the incomplete combustion of natural gas. It can be emitted from faulty heaters, grills and car exhausts.
It’s dangerous because when the gas is inhaled, it replaces oxygen in your bloodstream.
This leads to the heart, brain, and body being deprived of oxygen, which can cause a person to collapse.
There is no warning that the gas has been released because it is colorless and odorless, making it extremely dangerous.
Amazon told DailyMail.com, “Safety is a top priority at Amazon and we require all products offered in our store to comply with applicable laws and regulations.
“We have taken proactive measures to prevent banned products from appearing on the list and we continuously monitor our store and remove such products and take corrective action when we find them.
“The affected products in this case have been removed and we have notified customers of the CPSC’s concerns and issued refunds.”
The models that are defective included the AJ-938 with manufacturing codes B093Y1KK5Q and B093Y637CM on the back label. The model CD01 was also affected, which has the code B07MPVK6HG and B07K44HLCV.
DailyMail.com has reached out to Amazon for comment.