Carbon Monoxide and Explosive
Exposure to a slow gas leak in your house or apartment may cause deadly symptoms including sickness, weakness, nausea, suffocation, and headaches. If you feel sick or abnormal, immediately call an ambulance to confirm if you have been exposed to gas poisoning.
3. Why does my house smell like gas, but there's no leak? A faint propane smell may not be cause for alarm. It's normal for a propane odor to linger when lighting a stove, or if the pilot light in a gas fireplace, hot water heater or other appliance goes out.
Gas companies add a harmless chemical called mercaptan to give it its distinctive “rotten egg” smell.
When you're looking for gas leak signs in your home, keep in mind that it might not have physical signs or smells. You can find a damaged gas pipe, dead houseplants, and if a smell is present, it'll be rotten eggs and sulfur. Near the gas line, you might see a white or dust cloud, and a whistling or hissing sound.
Small gas leaks may not have a smell or other physical signs. However, if there is a gas leak in the home, a person may notice: the smell of sulfur or rotten eggs. a hissing or whistling sound near a gas line.
Rotten Egg Odors
For safety purposes, utility companies use an additive called mercaptan that gives colorless and odorless gases a smell that is hard to miss. Most people describe this smell as something like rotten eggs, sewage, or sulfur.
You notice a rotten-egg smell
In its original form, natural gas is colorless and odorless. To help detect the smell of gas, a harmless chemical called mercaptan is added to give leaked gas a distinctive odor. Most people describe the scent like rotten eggs or a hydrogen sulfide odor.
Remember it's important call the National Gas Emergency Service number if you smell gas or suspect a gas leak as quickly as possible to avoid putting yourself in further danger.
An olfactory hallucination (phantosmia) makes you detect smells that aren't really there in your environment. The odors you notice in phantosmia are different from person to person and may be foul or pleasant. You may notice the smells in one or both nostrils.
Here's what you should DO if you smell gas: DO leave the home, building, or area of the suspected leak. Get to a safe area as quickly as possible. After leaving your home, DO call the 24-hour emergency number for Peoples at 1-800-400-4271, or call your local emergency response number.
Gas leaks can occur in many places in the home. The most common areas are where pipes join together at the fittings, such as flex lines, tees, regulators and valves. These should be checked regularly. Also, these leaks can come from black iron piping corrosion that is not appropriately protected.
Gas leaks are subtle in smell but very obvious in bills. They can even go on for months undetected. But if there's a significant amount of gas escaping from your system, it can cause a spike in your gas bill. Pay attention to any sudden changes in your monthly invoice.
Is a small gas leak dangerous? Yes, it is. A small gas leak can still catch on fire and trigger an explosion from another fire source or electrical spark.
Fatigue. If you're exposed to a natural gas leak, you might also experience an extreme sense of fatigue. This is because the body is not receiving an adequate amount of oxygen. If the fatigue is because of a leak, anyone affected should recover quickly if they leave the area.
Calling the National Gas Emergency number to report a gas leak is free. An emergency gas engineer will be sent, free of charge, to 'make safe' your property. They won't repair appliances or pipework, though, that's something you'll need to arrange and pay for yourself.
The Smell of Natural Gas
Mercaptan is harmless to humans and pets, and the unsavory smell simply serves as a warning of gas leakage. But it can crop up at other times as well, and smelling it does not necessarily mean that you have a gas leak.