People 'at risk' from gas heaters

SHANGHAI: Thousands of people here are at risk of being poisoned by toxic fumes from aging water heaters, the Shanghai Home Appliances Industry Association said yesterday.

Although the central government has stipulated a general service life of eight years for natural gas heaters and six years for coal-fired heaters, an estimated 700,000 to 1 million Shanghai families are currently using appliances that are past their sell-by date, it said.

Eleven people have died over the past 10 days from gas poisoning, with a third of the cases involving water heaters, an official with the city's medical emergency center said yesterday.