(WWJ/AP) Authorities say 10 people aboard a boat on Lake Michigan were sickened after exposure to carbon monoxide.
WOOD-TV reports authorities in South Haven, Michigan, received a distress call from the captain who was unable to operate the boat, which was traveling in Michigan from St. Joseph to South Haven, Saturday afternoon.
South Haven Area Emergency Services, along with the U.S. Coast Guard and Van Buren Sheriff Department marine units, intercepted the 32-foot vessel near the South Haven pier.
Some people on the boat reported passing out. They were taken to a local hospital for evaluation and treatment.
No further information about the people, including their conditions, was immediately released.
Carbon monoxide —a gas produced when fossil fuels are burned — is found in the exhaust from cars and boats. And according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, one boat engine can produce the same amount of carbon monoxide as 180 cars.
Deadly fumes can develop in enclosed spaces in just a few minutes.
When you breathe carbon monoxide, it enters the bloodstream and cuts off delivery of oxygen to the body's organs and tissues.
The first symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning may be headache, dizziness, confusion, fatigue, and nausea. As more of this gas is inhaled, it can cause unconsciousness, brain damage and even death.