Air Your Room Or Save Your Health?

Special for Pravda.Ru: Toxic agents in the atmosphere are dangerous for people's health when they are outdoors
Even at home, we are surrounded by emissions of polymers, artificial decorative coverings and chemical fibers. When we air the room, polluted air from outside replaces the air inside. So which is the lesser evil?

Proper ventilation is essential for removing harmful substances from the living space. Standard windows and doors allow air replacement 10-20 times within 24 hours. Air renewal decreases when double-glazed windows are installed. This requires more frequent ventilation of the room, otherwise internal humidity will increase and harmful substances  accumulate  -  water vapors, formaldehyde, polymer plasticizers among them.

Street air is polluted mostly with car exhaust gases. These make up 70 per cent of the total amount of contaminants in the city atmosphere. Oxides of carbon, nitrogen, sulphur and car exhausts are harmful. When weather conditions are unfavorable, large cities become wrapped in smog.

Recent research showed rubber tires are specially toxic. When worn out over time, they pollute the air with zinc, cadmium, sulphides, hydrocarbons and other compounds used in their manufacture. Research  at the University of Pennsylvania  showed toxic compounds of rubber tires encourage development of lung disease and aggravate asthma. In thermal destruction of rubber when brakes are applied, cancer agents are generated. Hazards from benzapilene, the agent that car exhaust soot contains, are well known.

Which air is safer then: outside or inside the room? Some researchers say the air in a room containing many articles made of polymeric material is much more polluted than street air. French scientists conducted research showing it is better not to air rooms during big city  rush hours - understandable, given concentration of pollutants.

Special for Pravda.Ru

Vitaly Lipik, Belarus