Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Proposed as Cause of Edgar Allan Poe's Illness and Stark Imagination

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U.S. Newswire

October 07, 1999

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Proposed as Cause of Edgar Allan Poe's Illness and

Stark Imagination

CONTACT: Langlois of Argyle Rowland Worldwide, 416-968-7311, ext. 240

or 416-822-5077 (24 hours); E-mail: rlanglois(At)argylerowland.com; or

Albert Donnay of Carbon Monoxide Referral and Resources, 410-362-6400 or

410-262-2970; E-mail: adonnay(At)mcsrr.org Web site: http://www.mcsrr.org

BALTIMORE, Oct. 7

Edgar Allan Poe, considered one of America's greatest poets, may have died

as the result of long-term carbon monoxide poisoning, a public health

researcher says in a paper to be presented Saturday, Oct. 9, at The

International Edgar Allan Poe Conference in Richmond, Va.

Poe, the enigmatic poet laureate author of such epics as The Raven, died

150 years ago today. Albert Donnay, a researcher with the s Hopkins

School of Public Health in Baltimore, Md., will tell the conference that the

great horror author may have suffered from chronic Carbon Monoxide (CO)

poisoning.

CO poisoning is still the most common form of poisoning in the home and

can lead to brain damage and death. Donnay says that Poe describes dozens of

CO symptoms attributed to himself in letters and to his main characters in

14 of his tales, including two of the most famous, " The Fall of the House of

Usher " and " The Tell-Tale Heart. "

Donnay's paper argues that chronic CO poisoning would explain Poe's low

tolerance for alcohol, recurring chronic fatigue, blackouts, alleged

impotence and hypersensitivity to sensory stimulation of all kinds: sounds,

lights, tastes and touch. Poe was exposed to high levels of CO from coal-

illuminating gas, commonly used until the turn of this century. The

researcher suggests many of Poe's readers themselves suffered from CO

poisoning and may have read Poe's stories with a personal sense of horror.

In his research paper, Donnay states, " Poe was poisoned by at least one

significant exposure to illuminating gas, whose use he explicitly deplores

in " The Philosophy of Furniture " as 'totally inadmissible within doors. Its

harsh and unsteady light is positively offensive. No man having both brains

and eyes will use it.' "

A poster of Edgar Allan Poe by Donnay, designed to increase the awareness

of CO poisoning, will be unveiled today at the Poe Museum in Richmond, Va.

The non-profit group Carbon Monoxide Referral and Resources will distribute

the poster to hospital emergency rooms. The group is devoted to furthering

the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of Carbon Monoxide poisoning. The

poster is aimed to raise the awareness among both physicians and the public

and is sponsored by AIM Safe-Air Products. A Delta, BC-based manufacturer of

CO alarms and medical monitors, AIM Safe-Air donates 1 percent of its gross

sales to non-profit organizations engaged in CO education and CO research.

Poe's life was marked by misery and tragedy, in part because he was never

correctly diagnosed. As he wrote in " The Tell-Tale Heart, " " And have I not

told you that what you mistake for madness is but over-acuteness of the

senses. "

Donnay hopes the Poe poster will help those suffering today from

undiagnosed CO poisoning. " Symptoms of long-term CO exposure are similar to

those of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, " states

Donnay.

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