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Carbon monoxide detectors to be required in public housing after NBC News investigation
Jeffrey Greenberg/UIG via Getty Images

Carbon monoxide detectors to be required in public housing after NBC News investigation

The investigation showed avoidable deaths from the deadly gas

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will start requiring carbon monoxide detectors in public housing, following a NBC News investigation.

Here's what we know

The investigation, which was published on March 1, found that at least 13 deaths had occurred from carbon monoxide poisoning in public housing since 2003. Carbon monoxide is an odorless, colorless, and highly toxic gas that is almost impossible to notice without a detector. It can leak from certain household appliances and car exhaust.

While slightly more than a dozen deaths in 15 years may not seem like a lot, they could have been prevented with proper detection. Amazon sells detectors online for as little as seven dollars each. Many modern smoke detectors will also detect the presence of carbon monoxide.

According to HUD, 400 people die each year across the United States from carbon monoxide poisoning.

"A simple, inexpensive, widely available device can be the difference between life and death," HUD Secretary Ben Carson said in a Thursday press release. "Given the unevenness of state and local law, we intend to make certain that CO detectors are required in all our housing programs, just as we require smoke detectors, no matter where our HUD-assisted families live."

These new regulations will also cover privately owned federally subsidized housing.

Some states already require some buildings to have carbon monoxide detectors, but the regulations are inconsistent between states and, according to NBC News, not always enforced. HUD's new regulations once implemented, would "require working CO detectors in all HUD-subsidized housing programs nationwide."

Until a formal rule can be put in place, HUD is "strongly encouraging" public housing owners, managers, and agents to install and maintain carbon monoxide detectors in all housing, especially those "with fuel-fired/burning appliance(s), and/or an attached garage."

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