
Indoor carbon dioxide levels could be a health hazard - jlangenauer
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jul/08/indoor-carbon-dioxide-levels-could-be-a-health-hazard-scientists-warn
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RandomWorker
The nature article is a fascinating read [1]. Not only is there a health risk,
but there seems to be strong evidence that it effects our cognitive abilities.
This should be top priority for office workers, and managers to maintain high
productivity. Start monitoring CO2 level such that they do not go beyond 700
for too long. Currently, I'm working on in an office with 13 people in little
over 20m2. Yeah, we are scrappy, but I think this might the reason that we are
all so tired at the end of the day. CO2 levels might be out of control.

[1]
[https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-019-0323-1](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-019-0323-1)

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southern_cross
Conveniently not mentioned is this article is the fact that normal CO2
concentrations in human lungs are about 40,000ppm - or about 100x higher than
current background levels, and many times higher than the elevated levels
mentioned in this article. And I don't know about you, but when I'm in a
crowded room what eventually makes me tired and uncomfortable is the heat and
humidity from all those bodies. Turn on the AC (which reduces both heat and
humidity) and I will be feeling much better in short order.

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annamargot
Is the AC not also helping to circulate the air, removing some of the CO2?

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southern_cross
It would depend on the situation. For a single room system, generally no; for
a multi-room system, generally yes if the other rooms are empty or at least
relatively less crowded than the one you're in. That is, I wouldn't expect the
AC to really remove any CO2; it might redistribute it, though.

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rusticpenn
The exhaust for ACs are generally outside the room, so there is an airflow..

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southern_cross
Heat dumping is done outside the room, of course, but that's a separate
airflow, one that's generally disconnected from the room. The cool AC flow
itself is usually a closed cycle of some sort. You would be kind of defeating
the whole purpose of trying to cool and dehumidify the air if you did
otherwise, plus your AC system might have to run continuously in order to get
anything done. There will always be some leakage, of course.

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DoofusOfDeath
When constructing a home office, I tried to calculate the ventilation-airflow
requirements to keep the office CO2 below problematic levels. IIRC, I assumed
two persons occupying a 1200 ft^3 space, with replacement air coming from the
rest of my house.

I'm not sure my math was correct, but the required airflow rate was
surprisingly high, _maybe_ in the ballpark of 100 cfm? Well above the ASHRAE
62-89 recommendation of >= 20 cfm/person.

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spookybones
Anyone know if there is a decent and affordable test kit for bedroom or small
office?

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QuickToBan
[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FYWU2IS/](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FYWU2IS/)

It works well.

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QuickToBan
With enough climate change, everyone will breathe 800 ppm, and then everyone's
cognition will be impaired.

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QuickToBan
Buy and use a CO2 meter from Amazon or elsewhere.

