Developing Effective Risk Communication Strategies to Reduce Carbon Monoxide Poisonings          Carbon monoxide is a major cause of unintentional poisoning throughout the world. This serious health risk in the Paso del Norte region is particularly high among low-income residents of Ciudad Juárez because they rely on unvented wood and gas heaters in the winter.
In the last 12 years, 1,381 people living in Ciudad Juárez, México, have been intoxicated, and 167 more have lost their lives to carbon-monoxide poisoning according to Diario de Juárez.        In 2003 there were 128 reported non-fatal intoxications and 15 deaths in Ciudad Juárez from carbon monoxide poisoning.
This pilot project will generate an immediately useful risk communication protocol to inform the public of the health hazards of carbon monoxide poisoning from unvented heat sources.

Principal Investigator: Frank G. Pérez, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Department of Communication University of Texas at El Paso fperez1@utep.edu