Mouse "pesticide block" fumes?

EvanJames said :

Wow, you were the canary! Good thing you mentioned it to the bloke or he might not have spotted it.

roger that. so good to find out I wasn’t going crazy.

………..actually, THAT still remains to be tested

Wow, you were the canary! Good thing you mentioned it to the bloke or he might not have spotted it.

got the ducted gas heating serviced today and told him I’d been smelling something that had been giving me headaches etc. So just if he saw anything to let me know

Said he found a gas leak that was there since original installation!!!!…………

EvanJames said :

It’s fumes of some kind, I’m almost certain, and it might be gas. When I was tested for allergies many years ago, one of the bad ones was gas, or the stuff they put in it to make it smell, can’t remember which. You might want to have the seals on your gas thing checked for leaks… you might be the canary in the coal mine, detecting a problem before others are aware of it.

It’s fumes of some kind, I’m almost certain, and it might be gas. When I was tested for allergies many years ago, one of the bad ones was gas, or the stuff they put in it to make it smell, can’t remember which. You might want to have the seals on your gas thing checked for leaks… you might be the canary in the coal mine, detecting a problem before others are aware of it.

many thanks for all of your replies.

I think it’s most likely not the mouse baits. The levels of any fumes/nasties coming off is very low in concentration and it’s likely they have degraded by now anyway.

The headaches/smells etc have continued however. I did however not something significant and very telling. Over this weekend, we have totally aired the place out; taking advantage of the winds. The smells which present yest morning, were ripped out of the house within 30mins and it smelt totally fresh with no hint of the smell. Later that day, we put our ducted gas-heating back on and soon after I realised I could smell it all again. So either there’s something released by the ducted gas, or perhaps its moving dust or equivalent around that’s doing it to me. Still, ….my gf, cant smell anything. There’s no way it could be carbon monoxide could it?? I guess if I had to put my finger on anything I would suspect a dust related issue that I’m sensitive too 🙁 Just wish i knew what it was!!

As other have said, it’s not likely to be the blocks themselves. Has you or your GF changed washing powders recently? My other half was getting awful headaches and after trying a few things we realised it was the washing powder scent that was giving him the issue. Switched to the sensitive stuff and lo, no more headaches. His mum gets headaches from most (cheap) perfumes so I guess it makes sense.

Also, it sounds silly but it may be worth getting your eyes checked – they could be eye strain headaches, which I suffered from as well until I purchased some spectacles.

Hope you figure it out – they are no fun!

Grail said :

Other sources of fumes in the house could be mouldy onions, charring plastic on consumer grade power cords, or dead mice rotting in the roof space.

Heh, I’ve been wondering if the toxic fumes are dead mice rotting in the roof space. Eye-watering, that can be…

Other sources of fumes in the house could be mouldy onions, charring plastic on consumer grade power cords, or dead mice rotting in the roof space.

The baits, which work by ingestion not release of fumes, don’t sound like the likeliest source to me either. Is it possible the pest controller took the opportunity to spray anything while he was up there?
Interesting that like EvanJames I wondered if you have any new furniture, I know of a number of possible problems there, and you might be in that very small minority of people that can sense low levels of certain chemicals. The other suggestions are good too.

It’s likely that the rodenticide used in those blocks is Bromadiolone. It basically acts as an anti-coagulant and the animals eventually die from internal haemorrhaging (not a very pleasant way to go, but I’m not judging – I use the stuff myself when I’ve had mice that are too smart to get trapped). The PDS for that substance doesn’t suggest any nasty fumes being given off, except in the case of the stuff actually being burnt. And in baits, you’re looking at a concentration of 0.005% anyway – the vast majority of those blocks are harmless stuff to make them tasty to rodents (and other animals, so take care with them). So unless the blocks are on fire, or you’ve been crushing them up and sniffing them, it’s pretty unlikely you troubles stem from them.