Longer Hours In An Air Conditioner Workplace May Be Disastrous

Health Issues At Corporate: Occupational Health and Safety Assessment

Humans need oxygen to live. The minimum oxygen concentration in the air required for human breathing is 19.5 percent. The human body takes the oxygen; transports it to the other parts of the body via the red blood cells. Each cell uses and requires oxygen to thrive. The question is whether an employee, who spends more than eight hours in a centralized air conditioning room, gets enough oxygen for a healthy respiratory system. Cool air does not mean oxygenated air. Can an air conditioner supply enough oxygen inside a closed room? A small family is OK. Imagine a corporate building with 1000 employees inside. You do your assessment: how much oxygen an individual needs in a given period of time; and how much an air conditioner supplies.

Background:

• At standard atmospheric pressure and temperature, dry air, by volume is approximately composed of: Nitrogen 78.1%; Oxygen 20.9%; Argon 0.9%; Other 0.1%.
• Respiratory Protection Standard considers any atmosphere with an oxygen level below 19.5% to be oxygen-deficient and immediately dangerous to life or health. Employers should ensure that employees have a reliable source of air with an oxygen content of at least 19.5%.
• Below 19.5% oxygen, air is considered oxygen-deficient.
• At concentrations of 16 to 19.5 percent, workers engaged in any form of exertion can rapidly become symptomatic as their tissues fail to obtain the oxygen necessary to function properly. Decreased ability to work strenuously may impair coordination and may induce early symptoms with individuals that have coronary, pulmonary, or circulatory problems.
• Concentrations of 14 to 16 percent oxygen cause tachypnea (increased breathing rates), tachycardia (accelerated heartbeat), and impaired attention, thinking, and coordination, even in people who are resting.
• At oxygen levels of 10 to 14 percent, faulty judgment, intermittent respiration, and exhaustion can be expected even with minimal exertion.
• Breathing air containing 6 to 10 percent oxygen results in nausea, vomiting, lethargic movements, and perhaps unconsciousness.
• Breathing air containing less than 6 percent oxygen produces convulsions, then apnea (cessation of breathing), followed by cardiac standstill. Within 8 minutes -100% fatal.

The function of an air conditioner:

The purpose of an air conditioner is to remove heat from your home, leaving you cool and comfortable. An air conditioner works by collecting hot air from a given space, processing it within itself with the help of a refrigerant and a bunch of coils and then releasing cool air into the same space where the hot air had originally been collected. Every air conditioning system needs a refrigerant (also called a coolant) that actually creates the cool air. Freon or liquid ammonia is used as a coolant which temperature is below -40-degree Celsius.

Noone talking about oxygen:

Cool air does not mean oxygenated air. In a closed building, oxygen level falls over a period of time when more people use the same air. An air conditioning system supplies a limited outside normal air. Blood oxygen level falls which causes respiratory infections including common cold, frequent headaches, itchy throat and symptoms of flu. Less oxygen in blood means, fewer carbohydrates will be oxidized. Over a period of time, carbohydrates level increases in blood. When people eat a food containing carbohydrates, the digestive system breaks down the digestible ones into sugar, which enters the blood. As blood sugar levels rise, you know what will happen.