Air conditioning is no longer a luxury accessory for the benefit of only of the privileged ones. Today, it is part of our life, being a banal and common presence encountered everywhere, in the public transport network, offices, shops, cars and in our homes.
We cannot conceive any second of our lives without air conditioning, especially in the hot summer months when desperately looking to chill us a bit.
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Unfortunately, few of us know that the excessive use of air conditioning can have negative influences on health. Here then, why it is important to know the key risks and hazards to which we are exposed when using air conditioning besides the obvious advantages that it brings to our thermal comfort.
Let’s see what kind of hazards might be:
Deterioration of air quality: Let’s start with the most important of them: the deterioration of air quality. In the areas with air conditioning, microbiological quality of air is more than precarious. Air conditioners become quite fast, excellent environments for the growth of mold, bacteria and fungi, if they are not regularly cleaned inside.
Allergic reactions &“Sick Building” syndrome: These pollutants can cause severe allergic reactions, serious chronic diseases and last but not least, the syndrome of “sick building”, that is a combination of disorders and diseases with the individual’s place of living or / and work. Two bacterial infections are quite dangerous to humans “Legionnaires’ disease” and “bacterial pneumonia”.
So, people who suffer from asthma, bronchitis or other respiratory diseases may face severe lung infections due to air conditioning.
How to prevent and avoid these hazards: A simple procedure such as the inside cleaning of the device can prevent and avoid these situations. For that, you shall focus especially on the cleaning of the evaporator, filters and drip trays. However, theoretically, this operation should be repeated at least once a month. Also, the rooms where the air is filtered through a this type of device should be ventilated every day so that always the fresh air to replace the “recycled” one.
Sudden changes in temperature and humidity: Even after this, however, it is likely that the air conditioning to continue to raise a number of problems for those who neglect the warnings of the specialists and doctors. Sudden changes in temperature and humidity affect seriously the respiratory system drying the mucous membranes and skin.
The health proper temperature is somewhere between 21- 25 degrees Celsius (70 – 77 degrees Fahrenheit) and humidity between 60-70%. In fact the air conditioning is in full relationship with throat irritation, hoarseness, chronic pharyngitis and rhinitis.
One of the most common and mundane diseases caused by exposure to the air conditioning is headache. Therefore, make sure that the air conditioner is not blowing at close range directly at you.
In conclusion, the ideal would be to benefit from the air conditioner, but without exaggeration.
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