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Busted for CO: eCybermission team testing class for high CO levels
by Joelle Coons · News · January 30, 2008
“Say no to CO! Saving lives one carbon monoxide detector at a time,” is the “COBusters’” motto.
The “COBusters” are one of West Branch Middle School’s e-Cybermission groups that will be presenting their environmental concerns in Des Moines in early February.
Group members Jathan Kron, Whitney Koppes, Casey Pence and Casey Carter hope to raise public awareness about carbon monoxide poisoning. In Des Moines, they will be asking for legislation that requires mandatory carbon monoxide detector installation in all newly constructed buildings. They also want the state to distribute public literature specific to Iowa about the dangers of carbon monoxide.
The group aims to educate the public about the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning on a local level as well.
That education begins in West Branch, where the group tested the carbon levels of fellow students on Tuesday morning using a device they received from a company based in New Jersey.
The group contacted FSP Instruments, Inc. about their mission, asking for temporary use of a carbon monoxide breath analyzer, or COB.
The company responded by allowing the group free access to the $1,000 COB for 30 days.
The COB works much like the alcohol breath analyzers used by law enforcement officials. It is used to detect carbon monoxide levels in the blood.
Parents of West Branch students were asked to sign a permission slip earlier this month allowing their children to breathe into the COB. Students with unusually high levels of carbon in their blood will be notified that they are at a potential risk.
In the 30 days the “COBusters” have with the COB, the group hopes to test the carbon levels of local mechanics, firefighters and others exposed to high levels of carbon monoxide.
Along with testing the carbon levels of their peers, the group distributed a quiz to test locals’ knowledge of carbon monoxide poisoning. They found that a large number of people quizzed were unaware of the ways they could get carbon monoxide poisoning.
“They need to know or people are going to keep dying,” said Koppes.
It is recommended that homes have a carbon monoxide detector on each floor of their home, as well as one within 15 feet of each bedroom, they said.
The “COBusters” have developed a Web site, www.cobusters.org, containing links to other Web sites about carbon monoxide detection and prevention.
The “COBusters” are pursuing the 2008 Christopher Columbus award. A West Branch team won the same nationwide prize of $25,000 last year.
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