Ventilation of residential premises may not be as effective as many tend to think. Chemicals that are released during the cleaning or cooking, can attach to walls and furniture, so the ventilation does not help to get rid of them.
Wang Chen (Wang Chen) from the University of Toronto and his colleagues studied resistance to airing 19 common chemical substances found in the room. Some of them, such as carboxylic acids, appear in the house, for example, during cooking.
the Experts decided to focus on those substances that can cause health problems when excessive human exposure. These include ammonia, present in some cleaning agents or octanoic acid, which is available in milk and palm oil.
All examined by specialists in the chemical substances were volatile. Experts wanted to find out if they can linger on furniture, walls and other surfaces.
the study involved several people, who imitated the work around the house: cooked and cleaned. After that, the scientists checked the air for the presence of substances.
they Then aired the room by opening Windows and doors, and then re-measured the 19 components of the air.
it turned Out that the airing for 15 or even 30 minutes did not change the picture: soon the chemicals would reach the same level in the air as to ventilate.
Directly after airing, the concentration of all 19 substances fell. But it was necessary for scientists to close the Windows and doors, both through 55 minutes of their level was the same. In some cases it took a little more than eight minutes.
“This is quite unexpected,” said van. According to him, everyone used to believe that when ventilating the house chemical substances go outside.
But all surfaces in the house (curtains, furniture, flooring and many more) act as a large chemical tanks, govor van. These materials hold, and then release chemicals in our homes.
However, Wang says that much reason to worry yet: the contents of the studied substances in the air in our homes is not high enough, although increases after cooking or cleaning.
Experts still can’t say for sure whether these harmful substances to human health at certain concentrations. This will help to clarify the subsequent work.
in addition, scientists need to understand exactly how these byproducts of everyday activities contact and interact with the objects that surround us.
“Modern homes are becoming more airtight as we try to save energy. All of this can badly affect the quality of our air, if the house will not be built with mechanical ventilation systems,” concludes Frank Kelly (Frank Kelly) from king’s College London. He was not involved in this study.
Scientific article on the results of the study published in Science Advances.
By the way, earlier researchers compared the damage from the constant use of cleaning agents with daily Smoking.
in addition, the authors of the project “Conduct.Science” (nauka.vesti.ru) talked about another domestic problem: the sponge for washing dishes “capture” the billions of microbes who are not afraid of even boiling water. But other researchers have called the cleaning in the house as a way to extend life (though here it is still about physical activity).
Text: To.Science
