Putting on Airs in the Office

U.S. results from trustiger.com

Ever been in a long meeting in a conference room with no open windows? Remember getting uncharacteristically sleepy? Or even getting a slight or growing headache over time? Stuffy? Worse? You are not alone. Even with HVAC air, warm or cool, coming into the room, it usually does not make up for the constant build-up of carbon dioxide (CO₂) from those in the meeting breathing out. But at least the closed windows can keep out particulate and car exhaust emissions, right? Not necessarily. It’s a problem that floats below the radar since it is not particularly obvious and… well… everybody does it. But just a CO₂ build-up, with nothing more, can cause drowsiness and headaches.

“Having air conditioning doesn’t help unless the system includes proper filters, as the outdoor air – potentially filled with pollutants – is sucked indoors and circulated around the office…

“Yet there’s not great awareness of the issue. We all notice air quality in our outdoor environment but less so indoors. Cath Noakes, a professor at the University of Leeds’ School of Civil Engineering who has researched indoor air quality, says the issue has long been overlooked because ‘it’s a lot less obvious… Outdoors, when very polluted, you can see and taste and smell it. But indoors, you often can’t detect what’s there. When people can’t see something, they dismiss it,’ she says.

“Yet they shouldn’t. The health impacts of poor outdoor air quality are well known – polluted air has been linked to respiratory tract infections, lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). A two-year study by medical journal The Lancet found that 6.5 million people die prematurely every year as a result of poor air quality. It also hits productivity - a 2014 study discovered that for every 10 micrograms of harmful PM2.5 particulates in the air, the productivity of pear pickers dropped by $0.41 per hour.

“People often think the answer is to escape indoors – but that’s not true. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), air pollution indoors is often between two and five times greater than outdoors – and can get at its extreme up to 100 times worse than the open air.

“‘Indoor air contains whatever pollution you have outside, plus whatever you are adding inside a building, like cooking and fumes from cleaning products and building materials,’ explains Matthew S Johnson, chief science officer at Airlabs, which installs air filtering technology that removes 95% of air pollutants and harmful gases.

“According to The Lancet, 800,000 people die every year due to poor air quality in their workplace. ‘In addition, 'sick building syndrome' can cause headaches and loss of productivity,’ Johnson says.” BBC.com, October 16^th. If you’ve traveled to Beijing or Mumbai on business, the outdoor air pollution is so toxic that having very sophisticated air filtration systems for offices and residences, at least for those who can afford these, has become quite the norm.

For example, the “number of air purifiers in China is rising substantially, nearly doubling in 2012-2013 – at a time when smog was particularly bad - then rising from 3.1m in 2013 to an estimated 7.5m by the end of 2018, according to Euromonitor. A report last year said manufacturers were innovating to meet demand, ‘using nanotechnology, increasing energy efficiency and reducing the noise levels.’

“Firms and businesses are also seeing the benefits of investing. In their Beijing and Shanghai offices, for example, large employers including WPP and PriceWaterhouse Coopers have installed air filtering systems in a bid to retain good staff. The Cordis hotel in Shanghai, which opened in 2017, advertises among its amenities the fact that it has ‘the latest filtration system technology’ which maintains indoor air quality within US EPA standards.” BBC.com

“At the moment there are no strict rules yet around the standard of the air we breathe in workplaces around the world, though the WHO developed guidelines in 2009 for indoor air quality. The US EPA provides ‘non-regulatory’ guidance, while the UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is developing guidelines – not rules – for indoor air quality in UK homes. The guidelines are expected to be published next year, and the scope of the investigation indicates they will include potential interventions to remove sources of pollution and to introduce air filtering as standard.” But in the West, where air pollution is not so blatant, little attention is given to indoor air quality… often with disastrous results.

It's not just the air from CO₂ build-up or serious pollutants from outside that are the culprits. Fumes from plastics, glues, preservatives and chemicals used in the manufacturing process impact construction materials, carpets, flooring and furniture. That “new car” smell from these materials just might be quite toxic, particularly in rooms that are not well-vented. These fumes can continue for years, it seems, and their impact will vary depending on the materials. If you care, you can check for low-pollutant materials for furniture and fittings via certifications at the International WELL Building Institute. Want more?

Radon – an invisible, odorless, tasteless radioactive gas released from the normal decay of the elements uranium, thorium, and radium in rocks and soil often seeps up through the ground and diffuses into the air or into buildings that sit above – is another toxic threat that truly depends on location. Radon is a carcinogen, but it is more ubiquitous than you might suspect. The threat is usually higher in single family homes and smaller office buildings, given their proximity to the ground.

According to the National Cancer Institute, “Radon is present in nearly all air. Everyone breathes in radon every day, usually at very low levels. However, people who inhale high levels of radon are at an increased risk of developing lung cancer.

“Radon can enter homes through cracks in floors, walls, or foundations, and collect indoors. It can also be released from building materials, or from water obtained from wells that contain radon. Radon levels can be higher in homes that are well insulated, tightly sealed, and/or built on soil rich in the elements uranium, thorium, and radium. Basement and first floors typically have the highest radon levels because of their closeness to the ground.”

In the end, it’s a combination of caring about the issue, applying commonsense, and getting some serious testing done in and around those offices. It impacts both worker health and productivity, and hence it is an investment in the underlying business itself. New filtration systems vary in costs, but the offset in the quality of the working environment has to be worth it.

I’m Peter Dekom, and sometimes the stuff you do not notice, do not even think about, can kill you even if there are simple solutions to the issues.