Including making adjustments to vehicle filters and staying inside them for a long time

3 wrong practices that lead to death by the «silent killer»

Experts in Dubai Police and related parties have warned of three wrong practices that double the risks of exposure to what is known as the "silent killer" or carbon monoxide gas inside cars, including making fundamental modifications to the rear filters of the vehicle in order to increase thrust and raise efficiency, not conducting periodic maintenance of the car, and staying inside the vehicle during its operation for a long time.

In detail, Major General Ahmed Thani bin Ghalaita, Director of the General Department of Criminal Evidence at Dubai Police, said during a workshop held by the department on the dangers of carbon monoxide gas that the risk of exposure to poisoning as a result of inhaling carbon monoxide gas inside vehicles, lies in the absence of smell or color of this gas, which is difficult to detect and its high concentration in a closed place, pointing out that its symptoms are headache, feeling sleepy, fatigue and lethargy, so the person enters a coma without realizing the seriousness of what he is exposed to. Him.

In turn, the Head of the Forensic Engineering Department at the General Department of Forensic Evidence and Criminology, Major Dr. Eng. Muhammad Ali Al-Qassim, said that the studies conducted by the department on cases that were exposed to carbon monoxide poisoning showed the lack of awareness of victims of wrong practices, including making fundamental adjustments in the rear filters of the vehicle, to increase the momentum and raise efficiency, which negatively affects the air quality in it, and raises the percentage of carbon monoxide, whether it is standing in a closed or open place, which leads to A person is poisoned and dies or is seriously injured.

Al-Qassim added that by analyzing and examining the reports and accidents that the department's experts moved to, it was also found that many of them occur as a result of three main reasons, including staying in old vehicles that are not subject to the necessary maintenance, or are subject to modifications in the wrong way, and the third common reason is that the victims stay for a long time inside the car in a closed place operation, stressing the need to avoid these errors to prevent the danger of the silent killer.

In addition, the Director of the Specialized Forensic Evidence Department, Senior Toxicology Expert, Ibtisam Abdul Rahman Al-Abdouli, said that the danger of carbon monoxide poisoning lies in the fact that it gradually replaces oxygen in the closed space, and due to the absence of smell, taste or color of carbon monoxide, its molecules gradually replace oxygen in the blood, so the person feels minor symptoms, such as headache, shortness of breath, dizziness and nausea, until his blood is saturated with carbon monoxide, so he enters a fainting state and then dies.

She added that carbon monoxide gas «results from the combustion of fuel, whatever its source, such as coal, firewood, plastic and others, and its quantity gradually increases as the combustion process occurred inside a closed place without ventilation, and overwhelms the amount of oxygen, without the individuals present in the place feeling the silent killer, which causes many deaths annually in the world as a result of lack of awareness of these wrong practices».

On how to act if some people feel symptoms of carbon monoxide, or if they find individuals in a fainting state, she stressed the need to withdraw unconscious people out of the closed place immediately, open windows to bring oxygen into the place, and call the ambulance directly to take the necessary measures.

• The risk of being poisoned by inhaling carbon monoxide lies in the absence of smell or color.

Binding Regulations

Saif Al Falasi, Director of the Legal Affairs Department at the General Department of Human Rights at Dubai Police, called for the need to consider legislation related to the environment to establish controls related to practices that may result in fatal accidents due to carbon monoxide. Yousef Al Marzouqi, Acting Director of the Standards Department at the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology, stressed the need to develop binding specifications and standards related to assessing air quality inside vehicles in order to preserve environmental safety and health, and the safety of car users.