![]() The study examined CO concentrations at various locations on each boat while the boat was moving and while it was stationary. The engine types included gasoline-powered, two-stroke, four stroke, outboard, stern-drive, inboard, and generator sets. NIOSH’s study included an evaluation of approximately 25 recreational boats from several manufacturers. Concentrations up to 30,000 ppm were found in the cavity under the swim platform. A NIOSH report found that CO concentrations outside a houseboat in open air at the stern swim platform were as high as 10,000 ppm while transom-exhausted generators were running. But recent studies of CO concentrations outside houseboats have shown readings that well exceed the 1,200 parts per million (ppm) that is immediately dangerous to life. Researchers once thought that CO poisoning was not possible outdoors. ![]() In 2001, prompted by the death of an 18-year old teak surfer on Lake Powell, NIOSH released its first nationwide warning about the activity and began conducting a study of the CO poisoning hazard related to ski boats. Victims can be overcome by carbon monoxide in a matter of minutes and even when monitored by other boat occupants can slip under water and drown. The surfer’s head is inside a “burble,” a spot where the air stream behind the boat breaks up and CO accumulates in a pocket. Swim decks, which often are weighted to sink them lower in the water and create bigger wakes, are located where deadly exhaust fumes accumulate. Many boaters think teak surfing is safe, because the propellers are located under the middle of the boat, a significant distance from the rear swim deck.īut this pastime exposes “surfers” to dangerous levels of carbon monoxide. Surfers forego life vests because they interfere with the ability to surf the wake. “Teak surfers” hang off the swim platform and when the wake gets large enough, they release their hold and body surf on the wake. On ski boats, a popular activity known as “teak surfing” or “dragging,” in which occupants hold onto the swim deck as the boat pulls them through the water, has claimed the lives at least 11 and injured another 10. NIOSH and Coast Guard believe, however, that the incidence rate is much higher, because many emergency personnel the cause of these fatalities as simply drowning. A NIOSH report, “Boat-Related Carbon Monoxide (CO) Poisonings” cited 93 fatalities and 377 non-fatal CO related poisonings identified on or around boats through March 19, 2003. ![]() The highest concentrations of CO are often around swim decks, an area where occupants frequently sit while a boat idles or is traveling at low-speed and where the exhaust ports are located.Ī report detailing recent investigations at Lake Powell, Utah, from 1990 to 2000 found 111 CO poisonings, 74 on houseboats, 37 occurred on other types of recreational boats. ![]() Federal officials have known for some time that carbon monoxide can reach lethal concentrations from generator exhaust that gathers at the stern of houseboats, but only in the last few years have they found evidence that carbon monoxide can gather in deadly concentrations behind ski boats, cabin cruisers and even personal watercraft. On boats, this gas is found in the exhaust emitted by the pleasure craft’s electric generator and drive engine. Coast Guard (USCG) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) have been working together to investigate, find solutions to, and raise awareness of this epidemic.ĬO is a potentially deadly gas that is odorless, colorless and tasteless and is found as a byproduct of internal combustion engines. Carbon monoxide poisoning from houseboats, cabin cruisers and ski boats is a rapidly rising problem, fueled by boat design characteristics and boaters’ ignorance of the hazards. ![]()
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