Carbon Monoxide Poisoning: Travel Advice

Al Pinkerton Excerpts

Tuesday 11th February 2025 Westminster Hall

[Dr Al Pinkerton (Surrey Heath) (LD)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered Government advice on risks of carbon monoxide poisoning when travelling.

It is an honour to speak under your chairmanship today, Dr Allin-Khan. I also extend my gratitude to all right hon. and hon. Members who have taken the time to participate in today’s debate. Their presence means so much to campaigners, to victims of carbon monoxide poisoning and their families, as well as to the charities and organisations that support them. I especially acknowledge my constituent, Cathy Foley, who first brought the issue of CO poisoning abroad to my attention during a surgery appointment in November last year. I will open the debate with Cathy’s story, which she shared with me.

Hudson Foley, Cathy’s son, was by all accounts a bright, enthusiastic and energetic young man. As for many people his age, physical health and fitness were a pursuit, a pastime and a pleasure, as was the lure of international travel. In May 2023, Hudson set off from his family home in Surrey for an organised backpacking adventure across South America, where he planned to learn Spanish, volunteer, meet new people and explore the region.

During his travels, Hudson stayed in home-stay accommodation, arranged by a well-known travel company specialising in youth travel. On the morning of Wednesday 30 October 2023, he had breakfast, made a phone call to the UK, and shared light-hearted conversations with his host’s family, before heading for his morning shower. Only minutes later, Hudson was found unresponsive in the bathroom. Despite the best efforts of his host family, Hudson could not be revived. He was just 24 years old when he died.

The official cause of death was acute pulmonary oedema, a condition where excess fluid fills the lungs. That diagnosis made no sense to Cathy. Hudson was a healthy, active young man who neither smoked nor drank. Determined to uncover the truth of his death, Cathy reached out to the British embassy in Quito to request a post-mortem report. The first difficulty she faced was that obtaining the report required a formal request from a solicitor.

After months of persistence, even flying to Ecuador herself, Cathy finally received the report, which included a toxicology analysis from a US-based specialist doctor, whom Cathy had had to find to undertake the work. The results showed no alcohol or drug presence, but one alarming detail stood out: the carbon monoxide levels in Hudson’s blood exceeded 50%. Had it not been for Cathy’s relentless determination, including travelling to Ecuador, consulting a carbon monoxide specialist, securing legal assistance and hiring a translator, Hudson’s death would have remained misdiagnosed and there would have been no inquest. In fact, Hudson’s case was just days from being filed away for good.

Thanks to Cathy’s tenacity, the true story behind Hudson’s death is being heard today. One of the greatest challenges that Cathy and campaign groups face in their advocacy for carbon monoxide awareness is the lack of accurate data on carbon monoxide-related deaths overseas. We know that fatalities have occurred over the past 25 years—

[Dr Rosena Allin-Khan (in the Chair)]

Order.

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On resuming—

[Dr Pinkerton]

As I was saying, one of the greatest challenges that Cathy and campaign groups face in their advocacy for carbon monoxide awareness is the lack of accurate data on carbon monoxide-related deaths overseas. We know that fatalities have occurred over the past 25 years in the likes of Spain, Egypt, France and Ecuador, with many more cases of travellers being hospitalised worldwide. The data remains fragmented, however, and it drastically under-records and under-represents the true scale of carbon monoxide deaths.

In many countries, post-mortem toxicology reports are not required, meaning that carbon monoxide often goes undetected and unrecorded. Ultimately, deaths caused by carbon monoxide may be attributed to generic pulmonary conditions, as happened with Hudson. The silent killer remains silent. The UK charity CO-Gas Safety has recorded 34 deaths of British citizens overseas by carbon monoxide poisoning since 1999, but it stresses that that is a vast under-recording. How many more have gone undocumented?

Many families lack the resources or ability to do what Cathy did, leaving them without the truth that they deserve. It is crucial to understand that the dangers of carbon monoxide extend far beyond sudden fatal poisoning. Since taking up this cause, I have met survivors who suffer from the long-term health implications, including severe cognitive impairments that affect memory, language, mood and behaviour, all of which are caused by prolonged CO exposure.

The risk is not limited to home stays such as the one Hudson was in when he died, nor is it confined to low-budget backpacker accommodation, as some might assume. In May 2022, three American tourists were found dead in their villas at the Sandals resort in the Bahamas, having all perished from the effects of carbon monoxide. Let me be clear: this can happen to anyone anywhere, at any age, in a luxury hotel or a backpacker hostel. Faults can develop even in well-maintained appliances, meaning that all travellers, regardless of where they stay, would be well advised to take precautions. The most heart-wrenching reality of this particular tragedy is that it was entirely preventable. If only Hudson had been aware of the high levels of carbon monoxide in his home stay—if only he had carried a £20 portable carbon monoxide alarm.

Since Hudson’s death, Cathy and her family, who are here today, have dedicated themselves to raising awareness of the risks of CO poisoning through Hudson’s Pack Safe appeal—a campaign that encourages travellers, particularly young backpackers, to carry and use a carbon monoxide alarm. Working in collaboration with the Safer Tourism Foundation, Cathy’s campaign pushes for greater responsibility across the travel industry to ensure that all accommodation providers, from chain hotels to Airbnb hosts, pay attention to carbon monoxide safety. Hudson’s Pack Safe appeal has already made significant progress in educating about these potential dangers.

Through the sheer force of her character—I can attest to that force—Cathy has taken Hudson’s message on to radio and television, and even into the match day programme at Chelsea football club, the team Hudson had supported all his life. It is fair to say that this debate would not be happening today had it not been for the constituency surgery I had with Cathy last November. That conversation opened my eyes to the devastating effect that carbon monoxide poisoning can have. Although I had heard of the odourless, colourless gas before and was aware of the “silent killer” label, I had no understanding of CO’s deadly consequences, not just for travellers such as Hudson but for people in homes here in the UK.

That brings me to what I ask the Government to do on behalf of Hudson’s family and all the campaign groups I have been working with, many of whom are in the Gallery. The root cause of these preventable deaths is the fact that travellers are simply unaware that the accommodation they are staying in could pose a potential carbon monoxide risk. They do not even realise that the danger exists. Although the risk of carbon monoxide is undoubtedly everywhere, even here in the UK, education about its risk is not at the same level as, say, education about the risk of fire. Unlike fire, people cannot see it, smell it or sense it. They would not even know if they were suffering from its effects. That is the fundamental issue.

Shockingly, many major travel companies, such as the one that Hudson used to organise his kit list for his trip to South America, are completely unaware of those risks. But there is a devastatingly simple way to put the risks of carbon monoxide poisoning on to the radar of the UK travel industry, and into the minds and plans of British people travelling overseas. The UK travel sector closely monitors and indexes itself against the travel advice provided by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. From school trips abroad to travel companies, the travel industry uses information from the gov.uk website and feeds it into corporate and institutional risk assessments and travel guides. I know, because I have done it myself when organising field trips and coursework overseas in the university sector.

The FCDO has a huge amount of influence in the UK travel sector, even if it does not always realise it, and the risks faced by travellers are clearly reflected in the travel advice and kit lists that the FCDO provides. In correspondence with me on 22 January, the Minister of State for Development stated that the British embassy in Quito had recently reviewed carbon monoxide poisoning incidents in Ecuador, and as a result had determined not to update travel advice to add the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. Given Cathy’s experience in securing an accurate post-mortem assessment in Hudson’s case, the reliability of the data on which that assessment was made is certainly open to question.

Some may ask: why focus this debate on risk to travellers overseas? The answer is simple. Because carbon monoxide has no smell or taste, it is not an obvious danger, so it can happen anywhere in the world. Someone such as Hudson, who only felt faint in the days leading up to his death, would not necessarily have realised that he was in any imminent danger. People instinctively flee when they see fire, but the same instinctive response does not apply to carbon monoxide poisoning.

[Mr Mark Francois (Rayleigh and Wickford) (Con)]

I congratulate the hon. Member on securing this debate, which, as he said, is very important to Cathy and her family, some of whom have graced us with their presence this afternoon. Although this was a tragic loss of a young man in his prime, does the hon. Member agree that if other lives are saved because better precautions are taken, some good might yet come for others from the family’s tragic bereavement?

[Dr Pinkerton]

I completely agree. Even though I do not speak for Cathy, I know that she would agree with that. The change that is required is devastatingly simple. It is a minor change that we are looking for. Just a few lines added to the Government travel advice could have a lifesaving impact of the kind that the right hon. Gentleman mentions. The FCDO has a real opportunity to influence the entire travel sector by identifying the risk of carbon monoxide on its travel advisory pages, from where it can cascade through the wider UK travel industry. I must confess I am not convinced that the FCDO fully appreciates or grasps the power and influence it has over that sector, or the close attention that individuals and institutions pay to its travel advisory pages.

Of course, advice can go only so far. If travellers are warned of the risks of carbon monoxide, it becomes their individual responsibility to pack a portable carbon monoxide alarm and use it while travelling. That link is often broken. We hope that today the FCDO can see a way to use its power to reduce risk and possibly prevent further tragic losses of British lives overseas. Hudson Foley’s death was not an isolated incident, but Cathy’s extraordinary determination has ensured that his story has been heard today. I urge the Government to move beyond the mindset that more numerical evidence is needed before action is taken. I contend that we cannot afford to wait for more deaths before reacting; we must act now.

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[Dr Pinkerton]

I extend my thanks again to all hon. and right hon. Members who have come to this debate; they have spoken passionately, supportively and constructively. I think we all recognise that what is being asked for is a comparatively small change: the addition of some extra lines on some web pages. However, those extra lines could have a transformative effect, because of the power of the FCDO website in setting a tone among UK tourism organisations and the wider UK travel and tourism sector. The way that risk assessments and other institutional documentation are indexed against the travel advice provided by the FCDO mean that such a small change could have a transformative effect. An explicit recommendation to carry an incredibly cheap, incredibly portable and hugely effective CO alarm could genuinely save lives in the future.

I am hugely grateful to all who attended the debate. I want, one final time, to pay tribute to Cathy Foley and her family, along with the representatives of charities and organisations who are in the Gallery. They have supported Cathy, and they bring awareness to us all of the issue of carbon monoxide poisoning. I am hugely grateful to them all. I thank the Minister for committing to look again at that travel advice. I am encouraged to hear about the forthcoming meeting with the Safer Tourism Foundation, and I would be happy to be part of any future discussions.

Question put and agreed to.

Resolved,

That this House has considered Government advice on risks of carbon monoxide poisoning when travelling.