Carbon Monoxide From Generators Poisons Thousands In U.S.

Portable generators are among the deadliest consumer products.

Photo Insert: The generator industry has resisted attempts by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to require the devices to emit less carbon monoxide.

Two decades after the US identified the danger, and as climate change leads to more power outages, people are left vulnerable by a system that lets the industry regulate itself, Perla Trevizo, Lexi Churchill and Ren Larson of ProPublica and The Texas Tribune and Mike Hixenbaugh and Suzy Khimm of NBC News reported.

Portable generators can save lives after major storms by powering medical equipment, heaters, and refrigerators when the grid collapses. But desperate residents who rely on the machines to keep their families safe sometimes end up poisoning them instead.

The devices can emit as much carbon monoxide as 450 cars, according to federal figures. They kill an average of 70 people in the US each year and injure thousands more, making them one of the most dangerous consumer products on the market.

As climate change and the nation’s aging infrastructure combine to cause worsening storms and longer power outages, experts warn that more people are turning to portable generators every year — a trend that benefits manufacturers’ bottom line while putting more people at risk.

At least six people died of carbon monoxide poisoning after Hurricane Ida. The machines also killed at least 10 people in February after a massive winter storm knocked out power across Texas, causing more than half of the known carbon monoxide deaths linked to the outage, according to medical examiner investigations and incident reports.

And warnings about the threat posed by generators resurfaced this week after tornadoes left hundreds of thousands without power in Kentucky and neighboring states.

The federal government identified the danger of portable generators more than two decades ago. But regulations that would force companies to reduce generators’ carbon monoxide emissions and make the machines safer have been stymied under a statutory process that empowers manufacturers to regulate themselves, former government officials and consumer advocates say.

That has resulted in limited safety upgrades and continued deaths, ProPublica, The Texas Tribune, and NBC News found. The generator industry has resisted attempts by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to require the devices to emit less carbon monoxide.

Instead, the industry proposed a cheaper, voluntary safety upgrade in 2018, suggesting that manufacturers install carbon monoxide sensors that automatically shut engines off when high levels of the colorless, odorless gas are detected in an enclosed space.

Three years later, not all manufacturers have adopted the change, and safety advocates say the shut-off switches fall short of what’s needed to protect consumers.

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