14 DAY TRIAL // According to a new report which will soon be published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, CO2 does more than cause phenomena such as climate change and global warming to occur: it turns the people who are exposed to it into poor decision-makers.
In other words, spending time in an office building or a household that lacks proper ventilation and therefore allows carbon dioxide to build up indoors negatively impacts on one's ability to use their reason and come up with solutions to a given problem.
Thus, opening a window every once in a while is not just about clearing the air to avoid foul smells, it is also about keeping the brain alert and in good shape. Science News reports that, after analyzing the behavior of 22 young adults who found themselves in very good health, researchers found that their ability to deal with a task at hand was significantly impaired by the high levels of CO2 they were exposed to.
“We’ve seen higher CO2 levels associated with increased student absences and poorer performances on school-type tasks. But we never thought CO2 was actually responsible. We assumed it was a proxy for other [pollutants],” explained specialist William Fisk, presently working with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California.
Apparently, indoor CO2 levels of 1,000 parts per million lead to the 22 young adults performing poorly on six of the nine tasks they were given.
On the other hand, indoor CO2 levels of 2,500 parts per million impaired their condition even further.
Interestingly enough, it seems that, in spite of their abiding by design standards, some buildings end up registering such high concentrations of CO2 in the air.
Therefore, the researchers who looked into this issue warn that air quality must be constantly monitored by specialists, and that engineers should up the efficiency of ventilation systems.