Evacuate Immediately! Leave the premises with your family immediately and avoid using your vehicle or any other electrical equipment at this time because they may pose safety risks.
Natural gas from the wellhead is virtually odorless and is therefore EXTREMELY dangerous since you wouldn't know if there was a leak or not because you can't smell it. So if your house smells like gas, leave the house and call the gas company. Open all the doors to let the gas get out of the house.
If a leak is small enough or in particular places (like the vapor recovery system, part of the emissions control system/equipment), you can smell gas and there may be no visible leak present.
You shouldn't be in a room that smells like gasoline. It's toxic to breathe in! You need to call a professional and have them find the source.
Severe leaks can cause this problem in just five minutes. The EPA states that exposure to concentrations of nine ppm or more for eight hours is enough to produce harmful health effects for at-risk individuals. Exit the property and call 911 if you suspect your home has a gas leak.
After the leak has been repaired, you can open the windows to let your home air out. This can take up to several hours. Don't stay indoors until you are certain that the gas is gone.
Breathing gasoline vapor can cause headache, nausea, and dizziness. Extremely high levels can cause fainting and even death. Gasoline in the air can also irritate the eyes, nose, and throat.
After your gas leak is fixed, your house might still have a strong gas smell. Now you can open your windows and doors to let your home air out. You want to air out your house for anywhere between 15 minutes and a few hours. Do not assume that all the gas has dissipated once the smell disappears.
You could try window fans (blowing out) in windows on the side of the house where the gas was used and open windows on the opposite side of the house to draw in fresh air. Gasoline is pretty volatile so the odor should disipate before too long.
The smell of gas, whether inside or outside the home, must be taken seriously. Even a tiny spark can ignite the gas, causing damage to your property or worse.
No, carbon monoxide (CO) alarms cannot detect natural gas leaks. They are designed to detect the presence of carbon monoxide, a poisonous gas formed during incomplete combustion of fuels like oil, gas, propane, and wood.
One often not considered source of a “gas-like” smell that can come from your home is bacteria inside of your sink or sewer system. It has a similar smell to the sulfur that is added to gas to give it an odor but is obviously less dangerous.
Do not open windows and doors if you smell gas outside your home. Natural gas is lighter than air, so opening windows and doors will diffuse the gas to outside of your home. DO NOT use any open flame nor touch any switches, including exhaust fan, kitchen fan, and light switches.
After you've had a leak, authorities typically recommend that you open up your doors and windows and let the home air out. Typically, you'll need to allow your home to air out for fifteen minutes to a few hours, but the exact timeframe depends on the severity of the leak and wind conditions in your area.
However, natural gas is a flammable material. A natural gas leak in a house can cause potential fires, and inhaling the gas can cause natural gas poisoning. As with electricity, gasoline and other potentially dangerous energy sources, natural gas exposure must be handled with care.
In general, pure gas begins to degrade and lose its combustibility as a result of oxidation and evaporation in three to six months, if stored in a sealed and labeled metal or plastic container.
Vapors from gasoline are also dangerous! Gasoline vapors are heavier than air; they flow invisibly along the ground and can ignite from a flame, spark, hot surface or static electricity causing a shattering explosion.
Breathing small amounts of gasoline vapors can lead to nose and throat irritation, headaches, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, confusion and breathing difficulties. Symptoms from swallowing small amounts of gasoline include mouth, throat and stomach irritation, nausea, vomiting, dizziness and headaches.
If it was a small leak that was quickly fixed, you may only need to wait a few minutes before entering again. However, if it was a more serious issue or took longer to fix a gas leak, you may want to wait up to several hours before returning.