HARRISBURG, Pa. — A bill drafted in response to carbon monoxide poisonings at an Allentown daycare late last year passed the state House of Representatives with bipartisan support Wednesday.
- The Pa. State House of Representatives voted 158-43 to advance a bill requiring day care centers have carbon monoxide detectors
- The measure was drafted in response to a mass poisoning at an Allentown daycare late last year
- The poisoning, at Happy Smiles Day Care Center, sent 28 children and adults to the hospital
If also approved by the state Senate, HB494 would require child care centers using fossil-fuel-burning furnaces or appliances to have a carbon monoxide alarm near those appliances.
Larger centers would need to install multiple detectors. Centers out of compliance could lose their license to operate.
Carbon monoxide, or CO, is an odorless, invisible and poisonous gas produced by burning carbon-based fuels. While dangerous for everyone, children are particularly vulnerable.
Early stages of carbon monoxide exposure cause symptoms such as headache, fatigue and dizziness, which can be difficult to tell apart from more common ailments.
CO also can cause confusion and disorientation, making it hard for children in particular to express their symptoms.
Inspired by Allentown incident
The measure was drafted to prevent mass poisonings at day care centers such as one in Allentown late last year.
That incident was caused by a malfunctioning heating system with a blocked exhaust vent, according to a UGI spokesman.
Twenty-eight children and adults ultimately were hospitalized.
“It is absolutely essential that childcare centers are equipped with these detectors. This is a sensible safety precaution that needs to be implemented, and I urge the Senate to act on this bill, as well.”State Rep. Jeanne McNeal, D-Lehigh, sponsor of the bill
Paramedics were summoned to the Happy Smiles Day Care Center on the morning of Oct. 11 because of an unconscious child.
Their air testing showed concentrations of carbon monoxide around 700 parts per million — enough to prove life-threatening in less than 30 minutes, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
Allentown Fire Dept. Capt. John Christopher called it a “potentially lethal situation.” The center did not have a CO detector installed.
Though a handful of patients required intensive treatment in a high-pressure oxygen chamber, everyone eventually recovered.
“It is absolutely essential that childcare centers are equipped with these detectors,” the bill’s lead sponsor, state Rep. Jeanne McNeal, D-Lehigh, wrote in a statement Wednesday.
“This is a sensible safety precaution that needs to be implemented, and I urge the Senate to act on this bill, as well.”
The measure now heads to the state Senate for consideration.
Sarah Mueller, Stephanie Sigafoos, Alan Lu and Julian Abraham contributed to this report.
