Pushpa Girimaji warns against use of gas geysers

For more than two decades now, carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning from gas-based water heaters has killed countless consumers, besides inflicting irreversible brain damage on many. Yet, these water heaters remain popular because of the low cost of operation. In the absence of consumer education about the inherent dangers in their use, they continue to take a heavy toll, particularly in winter months.

This winter was no exception. On January 12, 26-year-old Aafrin, visiting her uncle in Dasna, Ghaziabad district, Uttar Pradesh, went to take a shower. When she did not come out for a long time, her mother got anxious and knocked on the door, and on not getting a reply, called other members of the household to break open the door. They found Aafrin lying unconscious on the floor. She was rushed to the hospital, but it was too late. The bathroom was fitted with an instantaneous water heater run on LPG.

A fortnight before that, on December 26, two young girls — Sapna (12) and Mahi (9) — died under similar circumstances in Lalru, Punjab. On December 25, 13-year-old Durva met the same fate in Palanpur, Banaskantha district in Gujarat. On December 20, 16-year-old Mahi from Aligarh, UP, became a victim of carbon monoxide poisoning from the gas geyser. On December 14, sisters Prabhjot Kaur (12) and Sharanjot Kaur (10) died from carbon monoxide poisoning from an instant gas geyser in Laroyi village, Jalandhar.

In 2018, the Central government issued a quality control order, bringing these domestic water heaters for use with LPG under mandatory quality control, effective from 2019. The standard mandates combustion efficiency and puts a limit on the CO and carbon dioxide ratio in the exhaust gas; it also ensures that the supply of gas is cut off and the burner is extinguished after 20 minutes of uninterrupted use. It provides for a safety device that cuts off gas supply in case water does not flow or stops flowing while in operation. The standard makes it mandatory for the package and the product to carry a warning saying it is “for use in well-ventilated areas only and not in closed bathrooms”.

However, even five years hence, deaths and injuries from gas geysers continue, for several reasons. First, given the importance of quality control in these geysers and the number of deaths caused by them, the government should have recalled all non-ISI- marked products in use and ensured their replacement with only ISI-marked products. Manufacturers should have been encouraged to come up with ‘exchange offers’. In the absence of such efforts, poor quality, non-standard geysers continue to be in use.

Second, there are two aspects to safety vis-a-vis these geysers. While one pertains to the quality of the geyser, ensuring minimal production of pollutants, including CO, the other pertains to the location of the geysers and the precautions to be taken during usage. Unfortunately, consumer awareness here is totally absent. As a result, they are fitted in bathrooms which are mostly small, do not have exhaust fans and the windows are closed to keep the bathroom warm while showering — a sure recipe for disaster! Again, to prevent CO poisoning, these geysers are required to be installed outside the bathroom in a well-ventilated area, but how many houses/flats can provide such space?

So, for these geysers to be safe, they must be fitted with a CO sensor and an automatic cut-off provision that ensures that the gas supply to the geyser is switched off the moment the CO level in the air goes beyond the tolerable limit. Without such a safety provision, the gas geysers would not be safe. This additional safety provision is lacking in the BIS standard and needs to be remedied. It is equally important to ensure that all old models are replaced.

I must mention here a 2021 publication of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Titled ‘Design of a low-cost gas geyser to reduce CO and carbon dioxide emissions’, it recommends two CO sensors to prevent poisoning from these geysers, besides the use of activated charcoal filters to absorb CO and carbon dioxide exhaust fumes. Such safety features are a must.

Deaths and grievous brain injuries caused by CO are totally avoidable. At present, we do not even have statistical data on the total number of deaths and injuries caused by gas geysers, particularly because even today, many such fatalities are not even linked to the heaters!

In 2003-04, when these deaths in bathrooms began to be reported, many were suspected to be suicides or hot water epilepsy or stroke! It was only later, after blood and viscera examinations showed up CO poisoning, that investigations linked the deaths to what later came to be known as the ‘Gas Geyser Syndrome’. What is most tragic is that even two decades later, deaths and injuries from these heaters continue.

The biggest problem with CO poisoning is that it takes the victim totally unawares because of its nature — it is a colourless, odourless, tasteless and a non-irritant gas. While low levels of inhalation of the toxic gas causes symptoms such as dizziness, nausea, headache and confusion, higher levels can cause breathlessness, chest pain, loss of consciousness and at very high levels, death may occur within minutes. The effects of the killer gas depend on its concentration and the duration of exposure.

Whenever a carbon fuel (like LPG) burns efficiently and completely, each carbon atom in the fuel binds with two atoms of oxygen in the air and releases carbon dioxide. In a bathroom or any enclosed area with no ventilation, the geyser utilises the available oxygen and once it depletes, there is incomplete combustion. Or each carbon atom binds with only one oxygen atom to release carbon monoxide and with no outlet for the gas, it builds up in the bathroom to dangerous levels.

So, in the end, I would recommend any day an electric or a solar water heater to a gas-based one. After all, safety comes first.

Remain cautious

On January 22 last year, the Kodagu District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in Karnataka awarded a compensation of Rs 37.5 lakh to the parents of a young woman who died in a homestay in Madikeri on account of CO poisoning from a gas geyser installed in the bathroom, with no ventilation. Vigneshwari Eshwaran had gone to Madikeri with four friends and on October 24, 2021, went to the bathroom for a shower and never came out!

— The writer is a consumer rights and safety expert