Background: Every year, hospitals in Germany treat roughly 450,000 people in the aftermath of poisoning incidents. To reduce the number of poisoning accidents, it is essential to inform the public about poisoning risks and the possibilities for prevention.
Objectives: The goal was to examine risk perception of poisonings in order to derive insights into adequate communication activities from the results. As a special focus topic, the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning was chosen.
Method: Telephone interviews were conducted with 1,012 persons aged 14 or over in Germany. They were asked about their awareness, perception, and knowledge of poisoning risks, particularly carbon monoxide.
Results: Most people are aware of risks such as accidental intoxications caused by alcohol, carbon monoxide, or mushrooms. Other risks that could be especially dangerous for children, like coin cell batteries, lamp oils, or liquids in e‑cigarettes, are less known. Of the interviewees, 82% had already heard of poisoning incidents in connection to carbon monoxide and 41% estimated the risk of accidental carbon monoxide poisoning as rather or very high. However, only 15% had already installed a carbon monoxide detector. Although people are mostly aware of the main causes and identifiers of carbon monoxide poisoning, more than one third still believe that carbon monoxide can be identified by its odor, smoke, or the smoke alarm signal. In addition, there is a special need for information about the risks of carbon monoxide intoxication through indoor shisha smoking and indoor storage of wood pellets.
Conclusion: The results offer first insights into the target groups and possible dissemination paths for future risk communication activities.
Keywords: Carbon monoxide; Poisoning; Risk communication; Risk knowledge; Risk perception.