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I see a lot of people wanting to monitor CO2 levels. But what's the cheapest remediation option for an individual if the outside air is also pretty bad whether
by KingMachiavelli 6y ago
I see a lot of people wanting to monitor CO2 levels. But what's the cheapest remediation option for an individual if the outside air is also pretty bad whether other pollution or just high CO2?
The questions I have are: is it more effective to scrub the CO2 or just to increase the partial oxygen pressure? What are the options for each.
Given that oxygen tanks are existing medical device, I would assume that just supplementing oxygen is the easiest way to offset the CO2. Or is the CO2 harmful even in high oxygen environments?
The study does mention "[Studies] like Satish et al. (2012) and Allen et al. (2016) are part of a growing body of scientific evidence pointing to CO2 as a pollutant—not just a proxy for ventilation rate—with direct detrimental impacts on the cognitive function of humans in schools and offices."
- frank2 6y ago>is it more effective to scrub the CO2 or just to increase the partial oxygen pressure? In all nuclear submarines (which stay submerged for months at a time) and spacecraft I know about, designers have chosen to scrub CO2. I think they have no choice but to scrub CO2 because CO2 has important effects on the body (e.g., increasing acidity of the blood) that cannot be counteracted by any concentration of O2. On subs, I think they react the CO2 with calcium hydroxide. On spacecraft, NASA has used lithium hydroxide (because lithium weighs less than calcium). The hydroxide gets used up during the mission. then NASA switched to some complicated system that does not use up a reagent.
- maxk42 6y agoCO2 is such a small proportion of the atmosphere that I have a hard time imagining its active mechanism for cognitive impairment is the displacement of oxygen. It seems you would have to scrub the CO2. Luckily, the easiest way to do this even in a big city is just to open a window.
- graeme 6y agoOur best option in a high pollution area is to live in a building that has made a good internal filtering system. I think it’s extremely difficult to setup in an individual house. However, the outside air will not be high co2. That’s equal enough worldwide. I’m in a city and it’s about 450 ppm outside. Higher than global average but still fine for ventilation. If you also measure particulates, you can get a sense of whether simply opening a window is sufficient.
- thatcat 6y agoThe easiest way to scrub co2 is to have house plants.
- greenshackle2 6y agoOpening a window is much easier. You need a large number of fast growing plants to reduce CO2 levels significantly.
- the8472 6y agoDuring the night plants are a CO2 net source.
- kolinko 6y agoUnless you convert half of your room into a dense forest, the plants will not make a noticeable difference.
- pas 6y agoProbably getting outside air (and if necessary cleaning that) is more cost-effective than scrubbing CO2 or constantly replacing oxygen tanks.
- mleonhard 6y agoYou can get an ERV (energy-recovering ventilator) with a good filter and install in your exterior wall/window. Just be careful not to block a window that serves as a fire exit.