The Problem with Dry Air
We breathe in and out 20,000 times each day. We breathe 12,000 litres of air per day but spend most of our lives inside buildings where the air quality is often poor - dry, smoky, dusty and stale.
It is important to our health that the air we breathe is free of dust, toxins, tobacco smoke, allergens such as pollen and spores, and other harmful airborne particles. There are up to 20 million particles in a cubic metre of room air. This level is twenty times greater than that found in the air at a busy road junction. And up to two hundred thousand times greater than at the seaside. To make matters even worse, when we heat our domestic and working areas in winter, the air becomes far too dry. The consequences for our health of dry or impure air can be severe.
Maintaining the correct humidity in our environment will also prevent problems such as electrostatic shocks, sore eyes and throats, and respiratory and skin ailments associated with dry air, or mould and mildew associated with damp conditions. The right environmental conditions also protect valuable furnishings and works of art in museums or galleries, and electronic equipment in offices or laboratories.
...and enjoy the benefits
• Better health
• Freedom from air pollution
• Preservation of your furniture and valuables
Air purification and humidification have to play a key role in our efforts to obtain the optimum room climate for the protection of our health.
The consequences of dry air
Discomfort, tiredness, sickness.
Breathing in dry air makes the uptake of oxygen and its subsequent transfer to the blood system more difficult. Fatigue, tiredness and reduced concentration levels are symptoms of a reduced oxygen supply.
Dry skin.
Low relative humidity results in greater loss of moisture from the skin's outer layers. It becomes dry, rough and flaky, and has a tendency to become inflamed.
Damage to wooden objects.
Furniture and other wooden objects have a dull surface in dry room air. They dry out and eventually cracks will appear.
Increased levels of dust.
Humidity binds dust. Dry room air causes dust to rise. This is made worse by the thermal currents created by the radiators.
Out of tune musical instruments.
Low moisture content in room air will cause musical instruments to go out of tune.
The ideal indoor humidity level is either 35% to 45% or 40% to 50% depending on who you ask. Thankfully, the human body is quite flexible and you do not have too aim at an exact figure. The important thing is to avoid extremes. Living indoors is not entirely natural. The artificial environments that we create for ourselves can sometimes cause extremes of humidity to occur. For short periods of time this is nothing to worry about, but the long term effects can be quite unpleasant.
If the humidity level regularly exceeds 50% you are likely to experience a rapidly increasing dust mite population, which will affect allergy sufferers. Permanently damp rooms tend to have a musty smell. The damp air is a perfect breeding ground for mold, mildew and fungus, which can cause serious health problems. Where ever possible the cause of such conditions should be removed, but it is not always that simple and a dehumidifier may be required. A modern dehumidifier with built in humidistat can be programmed to maintain a humidity level below 50%. There are a wide variety available, so it is important to find the correct type for your situation.
Consistently low humidity levels are also bad. This tends to occur when the weather is cold outside and we turn up the heat in our homes. The most noticeable effects are a sore throat and sinus pain, symptoms that are common in modern society at certain times of year. You can also get dry skin and itchy eyes. The solution is to buy a humidifier that will put moisture back into the air. Like dehumidifiers, these can be programmed to operate automatically, and there is a huge range available that make the most of a variety of different humidification techniques. These techniques are explored in detail at HumidifierInformation.com together with everything else you need to know on the subject.
If any of these symptoms sound familiar, maybe you should buy a hygrometer (humidity meter) and take some readings to find out if humidity is the cause. With modern technology at your disposal there is no need for your health to suffer.
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