The Silent Saboteur
How poor air quality in your office and home impacts your brain and body
How often do you stop to think about the effects of air quality in the environments where we spend the most time, our homes and the office?
Studies have shown that indoor air pollutant levels may be 100 times higher than outdoor pollutant levels, having negative effects on the prevalence of lung disease, respiratory illness, allergic reactions, heart disease and cancer.
And an increasing body of empirical research has demonstrated the significant effects of air quality on cognition. A study by teams from Harvard and Syracuse Universities focused on indoor air quality. The researchers simulated environments with different levels of ventilation, carbon dioxide, and emissions from common office products.
Employees were tested under two different conditions. One condition involved workers undertaking their regular duties in typical office building conditions. On other days, employees undertook their regular task in a simulated “green condition” where ventilation was improved, and levels of carbon dioxide and emissions were reduced.
Results showed that employees in the green condition environment performed 61% better on cognitive tasks than in the standard office conditions. Further, by doubling the ventilation in the green condition environment, cognitive performance increased by more than 100%.
Though plants were not included in this study, other research has shown that adding greenery to office environments increases not only satisfaction and productivity but also the perception that air quality had improved.
A further study conducted on 10 different green-certified buildings found employees had 30% fewer headaches and respiratory complaints in the green office environment. The study also showed employees performed nearly 27% better on cognitive tasks. Finally, workers in the study slept better at night, tracked by a wristband measuring sleep quality.
Another study on chess players found that an increase in indoor concentration of fine particulate matter increased the player’s probability of making erroneous moves by 26.3%.
This issue is a sleeping giant, largely ignored in efforts to enhance employee productivity and wellness.
Poor air quality has also been attributed to the increase in lung cancer in non-smokers and to accelerated cognitive decline.
Outdoor pollutants include carbon monoxide, lead, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, particulate matter of different sizes, and sulfur dioxide, while common indoor pollutants include volatile organic compounds, smoke, allergens, excess carbon dioxide and mould spores.
WELL and LEED standard office buildings will have a competitive advantage in commercial real estate becuase of the focus on air quality.
Presently there is little focus on air quality enhancement in residential homes. I expect this to increase dramatically in the short term.
If you live somewhere with poor air quality and high air pollution, prioritise implementing interventions in your home and office including improving ventilation, heating systems and air filtering.