Carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning statistics describe several different outcomes: poison-center contacts, emergency-department visits, hospitalizations and deaths. The U.S. figures below span 2005–2021, with definitions and coverage varying by source, intent and whether fire-related cases are included.
Key Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Statistics
The most broadly useful figures are:
- 172,489 poison-center CO exposure cases were recorded in the United States during 2005–2018.
- 105,833 CO emergency-department visits were recorded in 16 U.S. states during 2005–2018.
- 19,230 CO hospitalizations were recorded in 26 U.S. states during 2005–2018.
- 14,448 unintentional CO deaths were recorded across the 50 U.S. states during 2005–2018.
- 39.5 poison-center exposure cases per million people per year was the U.S. annual rate during 2005–2018.
- 56.5 emergency-department visits per million people per year was the annual rate in 16 U.S. states during 2005–2018.
- 7.3 hospitalizations per million people per year was the annual rate in 26 U.S. states during 2005–2018.
- 3.3 unintentional CO deaths per million people per year was the U.S. annual rate during 2005–2018.
- Children aged 0–9 represented 17.6% of poison-center exposure cases in the United States during 2005–2018.
- Adults aged 50–59 represented 17.3% of unintentional CO deaths in the United States during 2005–2018.
- Non-fire CO deaths declined from 1,253 in 2015 to 1,067 in 2021 in the United States.
- Generators were associated with 770 deaths in 588 non-fire incidents during 2011–2021 in the United States.
- About 85 annual deaths were estimated for gasoline-powered portable generators using U.S. data from 2017–2019.
- Cold months accounted for 43% of engine-driven-tool fatalities during 2011–2021 in the United States.
- Weather or power-distribution outages accounted for 19% of generator deaths during 2011–2021 in the United States.
- Fixed-structure homes accounted for 54% of engine-driven-tool fatalities during 2011–2021 in the United States.
- Gasoline accounted for 99% of generator cases with known fuel type during 2011–2021 in the United States.
Contents
- National burden and care outcomes
- Age and sex statistics
- Mortality trends
- Generator-related statistics
- Season, weather and outage patterns
- Setting, race and prevention context
Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Statistics: National Burden and Care Outcomes
CDC surveillance provides several views of unintentional CO poisoning, but the measures do not share identical coverage. Poison-center exposure and death data covered the 50 states, while emergency-department data covered 16 states representing 42.9% of the U.S. population and hospitalization data covered 26 states representing 60.1%.
| Measure | Count or annual estimate | Period and geography |
|---|---|---|
| Poison-center exposures | 172,489 | 2005–2018, 50 states |
| Emergency-department visits | 105,833 | 2005–2018, 16 states |
| Hospitalizations | 19,230 | 2005–2018, 26 states |
| Deaths | 14,448 | 2005–2018, 50 states |
The CDC reported annual rates of 39.5 poison-center exposure cases, 56.5 ED visits, 7.3 hospitalizations and 3.3 deaths per million people per year during 2005–2018. The ED and hospitalization rates are estimates from incomplete state coverage, and the death rate concerns unintentional poisoning.
The same CDC analysis estimated 5,593 non-fire ED visits, 825 non-fire hospitalizations and 422 non-fire deaths per year in the United States during 2005–2018. These are non-fire subsets derived from surveillance data, not a complete count of every CO-related medical event.
An earlier CDC review covering 2005–2014 estimated about 21,000 annual unintentional non-fire ED visits, 2,300 hospitalizations and 500 deaths in the United States. It also estimated about 15,000 annual intentional ED visits and 2,000 intentional deaths; those figures use a different period and case framework and should not be treated as directly interchangeable with the later series.
CDC, Morbidity and Mortality of Unintentional Carbon Monoxide Poisoning: United States 2005 to 2018 reports the later surveillance series. The earlier estimates appear in CDC, Surveillance of carbon monoxide-related incidents — Implications for prevention of related illnesses and injuries, 2005–2014.
Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Statistics by Age and Sex
Age patterns differ by outcome. Children appear prominently in exposure and ED data, while adults aged 50–59 account for the largest reported shares among the listed hospitalization and death groups.
- Children aged 0–9 made up 17.6% of poison-center exposure cases and had an exposure rate of 54.1 cases per million during 2005–2018 in the United States.
- Children aged 0–9 made up 15.7% of ED visits and had an ED-visit rate of 70.5 per million during 2005–2018 in 16 U.S. states.
- People aged 20–29 represented 13.3% of poison-center exposure cases during 2005–2018 in the 50 states.
- Adults aged 20–29 and 30–39 represented 17.1% and 15.8% of ED visits, respectively, during 2005–2018 in 16 U.S. states.
- Adults aged 50–59 represented 19.9% of hospitalizations and 17.3% of deaths during 2005–2018; their rates were 10.7 hospitalizations and 4.2 deaths per million.
- People aged 40–49 represented 15.9% of hospitalizations and 15.6% of deaths during 2005–2018.
The CDC figures above describe unintentional poisoning, and the ED and hospitalization percentages come from partial-state datasets. Poison-center exposure cases are not equivalent to deaths or hospital-treated cases.
CDC’s 2005–2018 report supplies the age-group percentages and rates. Its surveillance definitions vary by data source, so these shares should be read within their stated outcome categories.
Carbon Monoxide Mortality Statistics and Recent Trends
A separate mortality study examined non-fire CO deaths from 2015 through 2021 and included all intents. This scope differs from the CDC 2005–2018 unintentional series, making the two useful for context but unsuitable for simple like-for-like trend calculations.
| Mortality measure | Reported figure | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Total non-fire deaths, 2015 | 1,253 | United States, all intents |
| Total non-fire deaths, 2021 | 1,067 | United States, all intents |
| Accidental non-fire deaths, 2021 | 543 | United States |
| Intentional non-fire deaths, 2021 | 524 | United States |
The study reported that total non-fire deaths fell from 1,253 in 2015 to 1,067 in 2021. In 2021, accidental deaths exceeded intentional deaths by 19 deaths, based on the study’s reported counts.
The mortality-record definition excludes fire-related deaths, while the generator study below counts reported fatal incidents associated with engine-driven tools. Those boundaries matter when interpreting totals.
Carbon monoxide poisoning mortality in the United States from 2015–2021 reports these findings and its stated scope.
Generator-Related Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Statistics
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recorded 900 deaths in 710 non-fire CO incidents associated with engine-driven tools during 2011–2021. Generators alone accounted for 770 deaths in 588 incidents, or 86% of engine-driven-tool deaths in that reported set.
- Other engine-driven tools were associated with 85 deaths in 85 incidents during 2011–2021; examples include lawn equipment, pumps and snow blowers.
- Multiple fuel-burning consumer products were involved in 45 deaths across 37 incidents during 2011–2021.
- CPSC estimated about 85 annual deaths from gasoline-powered portable generators using 2017–2019 data.
- Male victims represented 79% of all engine-driven-tool deaths and 77% of generator-associated deaths during 2011–2021.
- People aged 25 or older represented 88% of all engine-driven-tool deaths during 2011–2021, while people aged 45 or older represented 83% of other-engine-driven-tool deaths.
The CPSC total is a reported minimum count, and reporting for 2020–2021 was incomplete, so counts may increase. Generator-associated incidents can also involve other fuel-burning consumer products.
CPSC, Fatal Incidents Associated with Non-Fire Carbon Monoxide Poisoning from Engine-Driven Generators and Other Engine-Driven Tools 2011-2021 provides the incident, product, age and sex figures.
Season, Weather and Outage Patterns in CO Poisoning Data
Fatal engine-driven-tool incidents were concentrated partly in colder periods. CPSC defined cold months as November through February and transitional months as March, April, September and October.
- Cold months accounted for 45% of engine-driven-tool fatal incidents and 43% of fatalities during 2011–2021.
- Transitional months accounted for 32% of engine-driven-tool deaths during 2011–2021.
- Generator incidents tied to weather or power-distribution outages totaled 114 incidents and 157 deaths during 2011–2021.
- Weather or distribution outages accounted for 18% of generator fatal incidents and 19% of generator deaths.
Among 98 incidents and 140 deaths with known outage reasons, hurricanes and tropical storms represented 38% of incidents and 41% of deaths, while ice or snow storms represented 38% of incidents and 34% of deaths. Sixty-four percent of the 58 known hurricane- or tropical-storm-related deaths occurred in 2017 and 2020 combined.
These are reason-for-use classifications for reported generator-associated fatalities, not a national estimate of all outage-related CO exposure.
The CPSC report defines the periods, outage subset and weather categories.
Carbon Monoxide Poisoning by Setting, Race and Prevention Context
Location and demographic statistics add context to fatal engine-driven-tool incidents, but they do not by themselves provide adjusted risk rates. CPSC compared reported victim classifications with Census population estimates in some analyses.
- Fixed-structure homes accounted for 54% of engine-driven-tool fatalities during 2011–2021.
- Non-Hispanic Black victims represented 21% of engine-driven-tool fatalities, compared with an estimated 12% of the U.S. population.
- White victims represented 59% of engine-driven-tool fatalities.
- Non-Hispanic Black victims represented 23% of generator-associated fatalities.
- Providing power to temporary locations accounted for 17% of generator fatal incidents; locations included trailers, boats, campers, cabins and campsites.
Fuel information was incomplete. Among generator cases with known fuel type, gasoline-fueled generators accounted for 99%, or 506 of 513, while fuel type was unknown in 111 of 624 generator incidents.
Propane-fueled generators appeared in 7 additional incidents with known fuel type, including three stationary-generator incidents and one welder/generator. A diesel-fueled generator appeared in 1 incident in that known-fuel subset.
The racial and ethnic percentages are reported-case shares, not adjusted population risk rates. Likewise, the fuel percentages apply only where fuel type was known.
The CPSC engine-driven-tool report reports the setting, race/ethnicity, temporary-location and fuel-type findings.