Everyone craves to relax in front of a heater when it's cold out, but don't relax too much, as many types of heaters can be a real safety hazard.

Particularly when these appliances run on gas, oil, or wood, ovens, heaters, stoves, and water heaters can emit deadly carbon monoxide, the so-called "silent killer," when faulty. For example, two women at the Hamoul Center in Kafr El-

Sheikh were killed, and another was injured, asphyxiated by the gas of a household heater, about two years ago.

This year, a whole family consisting of a father, a mother, and three children suffocated in a village in Kafr al-Dawwar in al-Buhaira as a result of inhaling carbon monoxide gas leaked from the heater.

Carbon monoxide is a particularly treacherous gas, because you can't see, smell or taste it, and according to the German Federal Office for Risk Assessment, the first symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning you can notice are nausea, dizziness or a headache.

After that, two approaches to the heart, unconsciousness and muscle weakness can also occur, and eventually poisoning may lead to death by suffocation, as carbon monoxide binds to oxygen-carrying hemoglobin, thus reducing the body's supply of oxygen.

In order to protect yourself from this type of poisoning, you should install a carbon monoxide detector in your bedroom and also in the hallways, as advised by the German "Decra" safety inspection agency.

تحذرك كاشفات أول أكسيد الكربون ، التي تعمل بطريقة مشابهة لأجهزة إنذار الدخان التقليدية ، من التسريبات الخطيرة - وتطلق إنذارًا عندما يزداد تركيز أول أكسيد الكربون في الهواء.

كما يجب عليك اتباع ما يلي:

- الحرص على تنظيفه باستمرار وحفظه وتخزينه في مكان جاف.

- العمل على وجود تهوية أثناء تشغيل السخان للسماح بدخول الأكسجين وتجنب الاختناق.

- تجنب وضعه على الأقمشة وخاصة الحرير والبوليستر.

- التأكد من سلامة التوصيلات الكهربائية والاستعانة بالفنيين عند تركيبها وصيانتها.