American Safety Zone - Garage Fumes

Garage Fumes

Believe it or not, garage fumes can enter your house and infect the air you breathe inside (that is, if you have an attached garage). Here are some things to know about garage fumes.

Fuming About Fumes?

Carbon monoxide is the deadliest gas, so ideally you want to avoid breathing it if you can. But many of us do things every day that allow carbon monoxide to enter our homes. For instance, when your car is in the garage, you have to start it before you can back it out. Well, studies have shown that carbon monoxide levels are elevated for eight hours after that happens. If small children or elderly people are in the house all day, they are breathing this air. But it's not just your car that emits fumes--garage fumes can come from gas cans, oil, fertilizer, bug sprays, paint, paint thinners, etc.

So you might wonder, "If the door from the garage to the house is closed tightly, how could all of these garage fumes get in?" The answer is simple--through kitchen and bathroom exhaust fans, cracks or holes in the wall or attic. All of these things create "negative pressure" and suck air into the house from wherever it can, and that includes the garage.

If you have an attached garage, the best thing you can do to avoid this is to install an exhaust fan with a timer on it. If you're building a house, consider having a breezeway between the garage and the rest of the house with sealed doors on both ends. This puts some distance between the garage and the rest of the house, but you can still be inside when you're going to or from your car in the winter (which is the best reason to have an attached garage).

Keeping garage fumes at bay is one of the best things you can do to ensure fire safety in your garage. Another thing you can do to ensure general garage safety is be a pro at garage organization. Keeping chemicals and sharp objects stored in locked cabinets where children can't get to them is a great way to ensure that nobody gets hurt.