Report Reveals CO Detector Failures

In the study, described in a report released in June 2002, researchers tested more than 70 commercially available carbon monoxide alarms from ten retail brands, all of which are left anonymous in the report. The study’s lead researcher and the author of the report, Paul K. Clifford, explained that the study’s purpose was not to rate individual brands, but to provide technical information useful in improving both performance standards and the design of CO alarms. Only three brands performed well, according to the report, meaning that they consistently sounded an alarm when CO concentration reached a predetermined threshold, regardless of humidity; they gave no false alarms; and they did not respond to any of 11 interference gases, some of which are common in household cleaners, glues, and solvents. Unfortunately, two of these three brands are no longer available to consumers. One brand of detectors performed moderately in the study and six performed poorly.

Of the six poorly performing brands (now representing a large proportion of available detectors):