Gas Safety Products

Lifesaving CO2 Detection

How is CO2 used in the hospitality industry?

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is used to carbonate and dispense beer and soft drinks.

The next time you are at your local restaurant, movie theater, or shopping mall you will likely be able to find a cylinder and pipe which carries CO2 to a beer or soft drink dispenser (CO2 is also called "cellar gas").

If you work in/visit a brewery or winery, carbon dioxide is also a byproduct of fermentation. Yeast converts sugar into ethanol (alcohol) and CO2.

Carbon dioxide is also used to create dry ice, which can be used to store food products, as well as for theatrical effects.

Carbon dioxide can also build-up in commercial kitchens if ventilation is poor.

What are the dangers of a CO2 gas leak?

The dangers of a gas leak

Carbon dioxide has no taste, color, or smell, which means that it is hard to tell if there is a gas leak. A small rip or a hole in the pipe connecting a gas cylinder to a drinks dispenser is all it takes to fill a room quickly with the dangerous gas.

Carbon dioxide is naturally present in the air, but an increase in concentration can be dangerous. An increase in levels can cause effects including headaches, reduced hearing and sight and an increase in blood pressure. Higher levels still can cause unconsciousness, coma and death.

Sadly, there have been some tragic stories of people dying due to carbon dioxide leaks.