The city doctors have advised the people to take all safety measures while using gas room heaters to avoid mishaps during the winter season.
Principal Fatima Jinnah Medical College and chief executive officer Sir Ganga Ram Hospital Professor Dr Muhammad Akbar Chaudhary told APP here on Thursday that gas poisoning cases were not easy to treat but very difficult ones. He said before going to bed people should properly switch off room heaters.
He said: "Chemical composition of natural gas is a mixture of two gases. Gas from the Sui fields consists of certain elements, including 94.42 percent gas and gas from Potohar oilfield contains 12 elements, including 77.11 percent methane.
Dr Akbar Chaudhry said that majority of the people use gas-heaters in almost air tight rooms during the winter season, without ventilators or windows, which results in gas poisoning and may lead to death due to absence of adequate fresh oxygen intake that causes suffocation and acute breathing problems.
He said that normally a window or a ventilator must be kept open for adequate intake of oxygen.
"Gas after burning produces carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide gases of which carbon monoxide gas is hazardous to life. Carbon monoxide destroys the red blood corpuscles, which absorb the oxygen," he said, adding "it also badly affects the entire body, including brain, liver, kidney, muscles and damages the living cells."
Dr Akbar Chaudhary said: "Both burnt and unburnt Sui gas is injurious to health, which badly affects the entire body and causes death, if adequate safety measures are not adopted while using room gas heaters."
He said: "When a person sleeps in a room without any ventilation, the burnt gases consume existing oxygen and he breathes carbon monoxide gas instead of oxygen. It is harmful to life and can cause immediate death due to suffocation." Similar views were expressed by other doctors when contacted.