September, 2017 | Article
Air is the New Water
People consume 2 liters of water every day from bottled water, office water filters and/or from tap water. [1] The next time you drink water think about all the resources that have been spent to make sure that the water is healthy.
Think about the air you breathe. Each person breathes up to 15,000 liters of air per day, much of it being indoor air at work. [2] Think about all the resources that are NOT being spent to clean that air.
Air is made up of lots of things besides oxygen! Oxygen makes up only 21% of air. When sunlight passes through a window you can see many of the other components of air. About 78% of indoor air is dirt, dust, mold, fungus, bacteria, VOCs, allergens, germs and viruses – things that are not good for your health. [3]
Expert consultants estimate that people inhale at least two tablespoons of particulate matter per day. In a study reported in Occupational Health and Safety (1984), it found that concentrations of dust fall into the 20 to 40 micrograms per cubic meter in "tight" buildings. [4] When office workers inhale this, respirable particles are deposited on tracheal and bronchial surfaces in our lungs.
Health Impacts of Breathing Poor Indoor Air
Breathing unhealthy air at work can cause headaches, sinus congestion, fatigue, nausea, dizziness, and sore throats. Unhealthy air can have an even more dramatic impact on people’s health. Poor indoor air can:
- Exacerbate asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cardiovascular disease, diabetes;
- Affect coronary artery disease, emphysema, respiratory infections, stroke, cancer; and
- Contribute to birth defects, so it is especially dangerous for pregnant women.
Business Impacts of Poor Indoor Air
All too often sick employees will show up to work and spread their illness throughout the office. Fine droplets containing pathogens can spread up to 160 feet from a person’s mouth, can travel up to 10 stories through a building’s HVAC system, and remain suspended in air for a long time. That’s why, one sick employee today creates many more sick employees tomorrow, and why the flu and other airborne illnesses can have such a negative impact on a company’s performance.
With the increase in open office environments this problem is worsening. New Yorker magazine found people who work in fully open offices are out sick from work an average of 62% more that single office employees. [5] A Harvard Business review study suggests a 10-unit improvement in the indoor air quality can increase office workers’ productivity by up to 6%. [6] California Berkley studies found as high as a 16% employee productivity improvement with cleaner indoor air. [7]
Is Cleaning the Air Enough?
Cleaning indoor air helps protect people’s health, but it alone is not enough. Indoor air becomes stale and ‘lifeless’. This lack of ‘energy’ can be due to the depletion of ions, and the lack of ions can leave people almost ‘falling asleep at work’, especially in the afternoon. Ions exist at very high levels in places near waterfalls, in forests, and in the mountains. These naturally occurring ion rich environments make people feel invigorated. Once indoor air has been cleaned, it needs to be re-energized with ions to help office workers cognitive capabilities remain high. This is why Las Vegas casinos pump ions, not oxygen, into their air, and why the US Military use ion generators in their fighter jets. A system with an ion generator can increase the flow of oxygen to the brain resulting in higher alertness, decreased drowsiness and more mental energy. [8]. A Harvard Business Review study found breathing better (re-energized) air led to significantly better decision-making performance, with participants' test scores being higher across nine cognitive functions. The results showed the biggest improvements in areas involving strategic decision making, planning decisions, and during crises. [9]
Office HVAC Systems Do Not Offer Enough Protection
Most employers believe that they are protected through their building’s heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. HVAC systems are designed to maintain the indoor air temperature at comfortable levels, not to clean the air. HVAC systems have filtration components that are designed to filter out large particulate to protect the components of the HVAC system, but not to filter out the small indoor airborne particulate that can be harmful to the occupants. Dr. Paul Feuerstein states “systems do a great job of recirculating the air, bacteria, viruses and all sorts of airborne things are (just) being blown around the office”. [10]
How to protect your employees?
Take some control over indoor air quality by reducing the sources of indoor air pollution. Avoid the use of chemical cleaners, keep your indoor spaces clean, and most importantly use high quality indoor air purifiers that can remove harmful indoor air contaminants. Medical grade standalone indoor air purifiers are like ‘Hand Sanitizer for Indoor Air’. They protect people’s health, and as an added bonus, they remove particulate which can damage expensive electronic equipment.
How do you choose an indoor air purifier?
The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Centers for Disease Control (CDC) states “if portable units are used, they should recirculate all the room air through medical grade filters” [11]. These systems should operate at noise levels that do not inhibit occupants, otherwise they will be “turned down” which can negate their efficacy at cleaning the air. When choosing a solution it is important to consider these selection criteria:
- Medical Grade Multi-Stage Filtration with virus reduction and re-energization functions
- Large Airflow Capacity
- Sound Dampening Design
- Capital Acquisition and Operating Cost
- Maintenance
Breathing is involuntary, but choosing to breathe clean, pure crystal clean air is a choice that is good for the health of your employees and your business.
References
[1] Mayo Clinic www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/water/art-20044256
[2] Ontario Ministry of the Environment http://www.ene.gov.on.ca/en/air/index.php.
[3] U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ‘Indoor Air Quality’ www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq
[4] Occupational Health & Safety Magazine 1984
[5] The Open Office Trap New Yorker Magazine January 2014
[6] Air Pollution Is Making Office Workers Less Productive by Tom Y. Chang, Joshua Graff Zivin, Tal Gross, and Matthew Neidell Harvard Busines Review September 29, 2016
[7] Providing Better Indoor Environmental Quality Brings Economic Benefits by William Fisk, Olli Seppanen2 Indoor Environment Department, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA Helsinki University of Technology, Espoo, Finland
[8] The Owners Manual for the Brain by Pierce J. Howard
[9] How Stale Office Air Is Making You Less Productive by Joseph G. Allen Harvard Business Review March 21, 2017
[10] ‘In the Air Tonight’ by Paul Feuerstein DMD January 2011
[11] U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Centers for Disease Control (CDC)