Editorial Policy

SilentShadow.org is an educational resource focused on carbon monoxide (CO) safety. We aim to publish content that is accurate, clear, and grounded in authoritative sources. Learn more about our mission: About SilentShadow.org.

1. Our Content Principles

Safety-first: When there is potential risk, we lead with the safest next step (fresh air, emergency services where appropriate).
Evidence-based: We prioritize primary sources and official guidance over opinion.
Plain language: We explain technical terms and avoid unnecessary jargon.
No individualized medical advice: We provide general information, not diagnosis or treatment decisions.

2. Sources We Prioritize

For safety guidance we rely on public health agencies, consumer safety regulators, national health services, building and fire safety organizations, and major medical reference resources. When citing studies, we prefer peer-reviewed research and systematic reviews. See our curated resource list.

3. How the State Law Pages Are Researched

The state law pages follow a stricter rule than the rest of the site, because a wrong answer there sends somebody to buy the wrong device or miss a duty they carry.

The instrument is read, not a summary of it. A requirement comes from the statute, the adopted code section or the local ordinance itself. National tables of this question are useful for finding where to look and are never the source of an answer.
Each record names the section the answer turns on, and the date somebody opened the document. That date is the least glamorous field we keep and the one that decides whether a legal page is still worth anything a year later.
The adopted edition is part of the answer. Most states adopt a model code by edition, and a section number moves between editions. A citation that names the section without the edition is not checkable, so we carry both.
Where our reading differs from a figure in circulation, we publish the citation rather than the disagreement, so a reader can settle it instead of choosing whichever table they trust.

4. When a Source Will Not Open

Legal publishing is full of documents that resist being read. Some hosts refuse automated requests, some geo-block, some serve a section only behind a JavaScript challenge, some paywall the standard the state adopted, and some opt out of the Internet Archive so there is no capture to fall back on.

When that happens we look for another route to the same text: the issuing agency's own copy, a different official publisher, an archived capture, or a free draft document that reproduces the adopted edition and names it. Whichever route opened is recorded on the page with the date. If none of them opens, the page says the question is open and why, and names what was tried. We do not infer the text of a provision from a description of it and then present the inference as the provision.

5. Verification Dates and Updates

Every state law page shows when its record was last verified, and repeats that date in the disclaimer at the foot of the page, because a date is only useful next to an instruction about what to do with it. The instruction is the same everywhere: the law moves, so confirm the current text with the authority that issues it before acting on anything you read here.

Editions really do move. A state can replace the code edition it adopts, and a section can be renumbered inside the new edition, which is enough to make a correct citation wrong without a word of the duty changing.

6. Corrections

If you believe a page contains an error, contact us with the page URL, the specific claim, and a supporting reference. If we confirm it, the correction is made in the underlying record rather than on the page, so the state overview and its rental and hotel pages change together and cannot drift apart afterwards. The verification date moves with the correction.

7. Checks That Run Before Publication

A suite of automated checks runs on every build and the site is not published if any of them fails. They test the rendered pages rather than only the source files, which matters more than it sounds: an earlier version of one of these checks read only the templates, passed for months, and missed that dozens of built pages were wrong. Among other things the checks assert that every requirement names the instrument behind it, that no page contradicts another on the same question, that the disclaimer is present and complete, and that no editing note or draft markup has reached a reader.

8. Conflicts of Interest and Advertising

The Site is funded by advertising and takes part in no affiliate programs: there are no commission links on it, and no product recommendation here earns us anything. Advertising does not determine our safety recommendations, and we do not accept payment in exchange for favorable coverage. Two pages carry no advertising at all, and a build check enforces it. See our Advertising Disclosure.

9. Contact

Editorial questions or corrections: hello@silentshadow.org