Airbnb says it’s “really difficult” to enforce carbon monoxide standards

• Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky spoke to NBC News in an interview scheduled to air on Sunday.
• Chesky said it would be “difficult” to enforce carbon monoxide mandates in 220 countries and territories.
• NBC News reported that at least 19 deaths in Airbnbs were due to carbon monoxide poisoning.

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said implementing some safety measures, such as carbon monoxide detectors, across all listings worldwide is “very difficult.”

Chesky’s statements came during Interview on NBC Nightly News, which is scheduled to air on Sunday. NBC said Chesky will discuss a range of challenges facing his multibillion-dollar company.

NBC reported in November 2023 that there had been 19 deaths at Airbnb properties related to carbon monoxide poisoning. The outlet said Airbnb responded to the initial deaths in 2014 by confirming that it would mandate carbon monoxide detectors on all of its listings but that has yet to happen.

While Airbnb addressed issues like indoor security cameras with the outright ban, Chesky said during an interview Sunday that addressing carbon monoxide poisoning was a more difficult hurdle.

“It is very difficult to verify whether a property has a carbon monoxide detector or not, but we work hard to make sure every property has a verified address,” he said.

“It’s really hard to mandate things in 220 countries, regions and cities around the world, and then if you mandate something, you have to have a mechanism to verify that it happened,” he added.

Airbnb has 7.7 million listings worldwide and 5 million hosts. The company says that – as of December last year – it hosted about 1.5 billion guests. Since Airbnb is a global company, it must adhere to various carbon monoxide laws and regulations.

When asked if Airbnb was “moving away” from this mandate because it might not be “realistic,” Chesky said addressing carbon monoxide poisoning and enforcing detectors remains a priority.

“There’s a really good question: Is delegation the right approach?” Chesky said. “But absolutely the right approach is to make sure every single listing is safe. Everyone is safe.”

Airbnb began offering free carbon monoxide detectors and smoke alarms to hosts in 2014. Chesky also said Airbnb provides travel information for guests visiting “high-risk” areas.

Airbnb representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.