There is a front page item in today's SMH (24/5/2010) that highlights the unsatisfactory nature of the un-flued gas heaters in some NSW Public Schools.
The Minister, Verity Firth, has said that the heaters are safe if the guidelines for use are followed. These guidelines say that if windows and doors are left open then there is no danger from the heaters.

This is undoubtedly true, especially if there is a gale blowing or a storm with strong winds. In New England when it snows there is usually some wind but when the snow is lying on the ground the wind usually drops and all is white and still and the temperature is a bit above freezing.
Ah! the joy of an open window and door to let the noxious gasses flow from the classrooms.

Around 11:00 hrs today.
Armidale (Northern Tablelands) wind 2 kph gusting to 7, temp 13.3 C.
Glen Innes (ditto) wind 15 kph gusting to 20, temp 15.2C.
and way out at Ivanhoe it's 28-50 and 19.0C, doesn't say if there is a chill factor in the wind out there.

It's not really winter yet (there should be a Smilie for cold, doesn't really apply).
One wonders at the intellegence of the framers of the guidelines, pontificating from their cosy airconditioned ivory towers in Sydney.

First consideration for the children and teachers ought to be their safety and second, perhaps, their comfort.

The Minister has been saying that the heaters are safe; maybe 'Verity' was not a good choice of names.

If this is as reported, then it does strike me as a bit odd. If it's warm enough to leave the doors and windows open, then you don't need to be running a heater.

What use is a heater than you can only use when the weather is warm? It's like a soluble umbrella!

Doesn't a heater that burns something, (wood, gas) consume oxygen? So is the real problem an increase in poisonous gas or a decrease in breathable stuff?
Sorry but I'm from Qld, don't know much about heaters.

The former. The heaters apparently emit nitrogen dioxide at a rate which can build up to quantities which exceed the recommended exposure level.

In sufficiently large concentrations nitrogen dioxide is fatal, but I don't think it is suggested that the heaters are capable of emitting that amount. In any event, the gas would be detected by an acrid smell and taste long before that concentration was reached.

At much lower levels, though, it can trigger an asthma attack in those who are vulnerable. For some people that can be a serious hazard, and that's the concern here.

Here's a link.
http://www.news.com.au/national/educati ... 5870372899

"Based on the results of this monitoring, NSW Health advised that a substantial proportion of the new unflued low-nox heaters were testing at nitrogen dioxide levels over that considered safe for human exposure," it said. There are 51,000 of the heaters in NSW public schools."

When I read the original post, I assumed erroneously, that these were old heaters left over from a different time.

Edit: I couldn't have been more wrong. These are a new energy-efficient and low-pollution heater. A search on Google got a lot of hits but they were all for applications that didn't involve many people such as hot water heaters, in-ground pool heaters, industrial boilers, and so forth. The only thing I found about dangers were related to this story from Australia.

The Minister has solved the problem, in the hot weather the heaters don't need to be turned on and in the cold weather the teachers can have the heaters on and a window and a door open for proper ventilation and suffer the freezing conditions or they can leave the heaters off and shut the window and the door and be almost as cold but without the wind chill .

I'm thankful that I no longer go to the local school as a reader; although they still have an open fireplace. Back to the days of every child bringing some sticks to school, however they'd better not pick them up along the roadside because that practice can attract a $5,000 fine.

I went to Google and the selling points for low-nox heaters are energy savings and low pollution. Wonderful. A quick look at prices led me to believe that $2,000 USD per furnance is probably close. The schools have $51,000 low-nox heaters. Okay, do the math.

Now, what do you do when you've spent millions on energy effiecient, low polluting heaters that are, well, dangerous? That's the position they're in. What you can't do is say, "Oops!"

I think the officials should install low-nox heaters as their only system for home heating to demonstrate their confidence in the heaters.

I gather the heaters are safe enough, patrickt, if vented to the exterior. The problem is not the design or operation of the heaters themselves, but the decision to install them without external venting (which, of course, made installlation much cheaper).

The obvious solution is to retrofit external venting to the heaters, which will naturally cost much more than if external venting had been done as part of the installation.

These heaters are not safe the NSW dept of health states quite plainly on their web site that when considering purchasing heating for your home you should opt for electric or flued gas especially if you have young children, elderly or people suffering from asthma in your home. Common knowledge that the gases released from these unflued heaters aggravate the airways and cause respiratory distress. For more information look us up at www.cough.org.au we also have a page on facebook, 'say NO to unflued gas heaters in NSW schools' and on twitter @coughvdet.

If you can help by getting involved and spreading the word, please do, our children deserve a safe learning environment and it looks like the state govt are going to continue to bury information and carry on with the rubbish they have been spouting for years.

The real question is why is asthma worldwide on the increase?

There are thousands of triggers for asthma.. and growing every day.

Whats our answer? "eliminating triggers" while asthma keeps rising we keep finding more and more triggers to add to the list and then try to eliminate them.

Think about this, asmtha is on the increase and more people are becoming more sensitive every year, which means every year we will find more triggers and add them to the list.

At what point do we stop running from triggers.. and realise the issue of health in our kids is the problem.

By simply eliminating triggers is not dealing with the problem remember asthma is on the increase.

If eliminating triggers is the answer, why is asmtha still increasing?

My suggestion is stop removing triggers and start fighting asthma today.

"healthy lungs" thats the solution!!

dare I say it, triggers make our lungs stronger

Parents need to make a choice for there children

Stop running and Start fighting asmtha today

You have the choice Run or Fight

I wonder the same thing myself. When my first son was born 28 years ago, I bought the obligatory 'baby book', listing child development, diseases, first aid, etc. Nowhere in this book did it mention 'peanut allergy', ADD, ADHD, or Hyperactivity. As early as 28 years ago mothers were not warned about the dangers of peanut butter. I daresay, because it didn't exist!
Right through my schooling (as late as 1976), I had known 1 girl who had had asthma!

This is at a time when up to 75% of people smoked! In restaurants, trains, shopping centres, everywhere! So where did the link to smoking come from?

My theory is that in the last 30 or so years, people don't eat properly (the fast rise of fast food chains, frozen meals, preservative laden cakes, biscuits, etc) People don't cook from scratch anymore, they don't care what they are putting in their bodies & are now suffering the consequences. The general population is also too eager to accept prescriptions for any minor problem, rather than giving their body a chance to fight off disease. (ie: antibiotics are well & truly overused)

I say, eat well & know your body.

Deleted by Hunter

You're right Hunter, carpet is one of the worst things in a home. We only have timber floors here, & not the modern kind with all the polyurethane coating. I also try and have only solid timber furniture.

I love technology, but some things from 'the old days', make a lot of sense.

i have to say that we recently removed our carpets and put down wood and i would never go back to carpets after seeing what we sweep up every day.. scary

What is a fear campaign?

Fear campaigns paint the picture of what your life might be like if you don't act on their fear message. They play into already existing fears, or paint new ones that may never have been considered. The end result is the perception that there message is necessity to keep themself or their family safe, make their life less dangerous, or avoid a situation that may be dangerous
It is often based on irrational statements, that give us irrational thoughts and override facts and reasoning. Fear is a powerful marketers tool and can be used just as affectively in fear campaigns.

But should we act on the fear?
The only weapon against fear is facts, rationalization and reasoning.

But the problem with fear campaigns is that it often works without substance, news current affair programs are addicted to them and often run them as headlines news stories. The fear is the story and the facts are often not talked about because that would only neutralise the fear in turn the story.

Facts from cough website below:
Unflued gas heaters in NSW classrooms produce noxious by-products (nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, formaldehyde) directly into the air our children breathe.
The world Health Organisation states that if emission levels are maintained within the who guide lines the unflued heaters are safe, so this statment is based on fear and does not state the heaters run within the guide lines when maintained correctly.

South Australia decided five years ago to remove unflued gas heaters from all state schools, while in Western Australia they were phased out by the end of 2009.
SA and WA never had the new Low Nox heaters to take out in the first place. NSW has the new Low Nox heaters. So this statements is just meant to mislead the public into believing that new Low Nox Heaters have been removed when in actual fact they never had them, the question here is why mislead the public, really why?

Victoria made the decision in the 1970s to ensure students were protected by not choosing to install un flued gas heaters. The ACT Government have also choosen not to install them (and haven't done so for many years) in government schools.
This statement is also meant to mislead, Victoria has never approved the sale of unflued gas heaters in the state on natural gas however the same is not true for LP gas, the inference here is to make the public think they were considering it when the fact is they never did

A government study undertaken in Blackheath Public School in 2008 found that 30 per cent of the classroom areas tested returned nitrous oxide levels above World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines.
The obvious question here is if all the heaters are of the same make, why would only 70% of the heaters pass and 30% fail. ”they are all built the same way” One reason is there is there may be a problem with the study or more likely the 30% of heaters that failed have not been maintained correctly. Which means there is no problem with the heaters rather 30% have maintenance issues.

The Blue Mountains has a 40 per cent greater rate of asthma than the NSW average, according to Sydney West Area Health Service. And putting that in perspective, Australia has the third highest incidence of respiratory disease in the world.
And putting this in perspective NSW has the highest usage of unflued gas heaters in Australia but NSW has one of the lowest hospital admission rates for asthma in Australia, in addition to that asthma rates peak at the highest in February not in winter when the heaters are on. As well the Blue Mountains has some well documented evidence that trees and pollen are a major cause for asthma.

You can choose to ignore these answers or begin to work towards a solution.