U.S. Mortality Due to Carbon Monoxide Poisoning, 1999-2014. Accidental and Intentional Deaths

Carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning accounts for hundreds of deaths and thousands of emergency department visits in the United States annually. Development of initiatives to reduce CO mortality through poisoning prevention requires a comprehensive understanding of the condition. To describe U.S. mortality from 1999 to 2014 due to CO poisoning from all sources except fires, to examine the epidemiology of accidental and intentional exposures, and to identify trends. The CDC WONDER database was used to extract and analyze data from the CDC's Multiple Cause of Death 1999-2014 file. The file contains mortality data derived from all death certificates filed in the United States. Information on deaths, crude death rate, age-adjusted death rate, intent of exposure, and characteristics of exposures from CO poisoning was extracted. Total deaths by CO poisoning decreased from 1,967 in 1999 to 1,319 in 2014 (P