4 ms·

Would you entertain the idea of stressing about CO2 levels being more harmful than elevated CO2?

by ThrowawayTestr 4y ago

Guthur 4y ago
[flagged]
unmole 4y ago
No.
- ThrowawayTestr 4y ago
  Fair enough
  - unmole 4y ago
    To be fair, I think the fear of cognitive effects of increased CO2 concentration is overblown: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32557862/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32557862/
voxelghost 4y ago
So some perspective; * 10,000 years ago, the average atmospheric CO2 was about 280ppm. * In 2022, the average atmospheric CO2 was about 420ppm. * OPs baseline indoor CO2 is 700-800ppm. * For a brief time when cooking, OPs indoor CO2 is 3000ppm 700-3000ppm CO2 would be catastrophic for the climate if it was the average atmospheric level (but fortunately we haven't messed up this bad yet) But when it comes to the effect on the body, and I am not a medical professional of any kind, but normally exhaled air contains about 4.5 percent CO2 ( or 45,000ppm), so while breathing in air with 3,000ppm or 0.3% CO2 probably isn't optimal for us - our lungs are constantly dealing with much higher concentrations. So nervous shallow-breathing worrying about CO2 levels of your home probably has a similar effect to OPs cooking. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- ourlordcaffeine 4y ago
  Levels above 1000ppm are shown to cause cognitive impairment. 3000ppm is absolutely harmful. >our lungs are constantly dealing with much higher concentrations After gas exchange. Not with inhaled air.
  - voxelghost 4y ago
    >After gas exchange. Not with inhaled air. gas exchange is continuous, not a discrete event that only takes place just after fresh air enters the lungs.
- londons_explore 4y ago
  Sitting next to someone exhaling 45,000 ppm air and breathing in, if you breathe in perhaps 5% of what they breathe out, you are still breathing in air at 2,400 ppm... Is sitting next to someone bad for health?
rtpg 4y ago
It's very hard to disassociate everything from placebo effects, and I had a CO2 monitor in my bedroom plugged in for a while. It trained me to open windows to create circulation, but unfortunately some of the reduced airflow was unsolvable short of me like... installing more ventilation into my room. I am glad I am aware of CO2 stuff (and definitely feel like I've reduced headaches and the like from being more mindful) but sometimes you will be informed of a bad CO2 environment but be totally incapable of doing anything about it and that really sucks.
- bruckie 4y ago
  There are some pretty cool newish ventilation products that are minimally invasive (e.g. don't have to run need ducts). Lunos makes a tiny ductless HRV that can provide indoor/outdoor air exchange. There are other products, too. https://www.buildwithrise.com/stories/ductless-heat-recovery https://www.buildwithrise.com/stories/ductless-heat-recovery lists several.
  - rtpg 4y ago
    What I'm thinking of is more two places: - an office (fortunately not my case) - rented apartment that would not let me drill a hole in the wall Good info to have though! I feel like I would definitely look at setting that up in most cases
asdfman123 4y ago
Don’t assume when someone brings up a health hyperoptimization they’re stressing out about it. In fact, lots of people who do these sorts of things actually enjoy what amounts to a health hobby, in the same way any other hobbyist likes to geek out about their respective hobby.
- londons_explore 4y ago
  Stressing out about minutiae of your own health is, in most cases, wasted effort. However, putting that effort into fixing those small things for millions of people usually is worth it. For example, could OP contact their local building standards department and push for CO2 monitors in all new buildings? Could they do a study and publish the results to give a better scientific backing for any changes? Could they publish designs for a combined smoke and CO2 alarm? If they are truly powerless to do anything like that, then they should just ignore the whole thing and worry about more day to day risks, like slipping on ice on their front yard.
  - asdfman123 4y ago
    But you're missing my point: why assume it's "stressing out"?

Would you entertain the idea of stressing about CO2 levels being more harmful than elevated CO2?

Guthur 4y ago

[flagged]

unmole 4y ago

No.

ThrowawayTestr 4y ago
Fair enough
- unmole 4y ago
  To be fair, I think the fear of cognitive effects of increased CO2 concentration is overblown: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32557862/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32557862/

voxelghost 4y ago

So some perspective; * 10,000 years ago, the average atmospheric CO2 was about 280ppm. * In 2022, the average atmospheric CO2 was about 420ppm. * OPs baseline indoor CO2 is 700-800ppm. * For a brief time when cooking, OPs indoor CO2 is 3000ppm 700-3000ppm CO2 would be catastrophic for the climate if it was the average atmospheric level (but fortunately we haven't messed up this bad yet) But when it comes to the effect on the body, and I am not a medical professional of any kind, but normally exhaled air contains about 4.5 percent CO2 ( or 45,000ppm), so while breathing in air with 3,000ppm or 0.3% CO2 probably isn't optimal for us - our lungs are constantly dealing with much higher concentrations. So nervous shallow-breathing worrying about CO2 levels of your home probably has a similar effect to OPs cooking. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
ourlordcaffeine 4y ago
Levels above 1000ppm are shown to cause cognitive impairment. 3000ppm is absolutely harmful. >our lungs are constantly dealing with much higher concentrations After gas exchange. Not with inhaled air.
- voxelghost 4y ago
  >After gas exchange. Not with inhaled air. gas exchange is continuous, not a discrete event that only takes place just after fresh air enters the lungs.
londons_explore 4y ago
Sitting next to someone exhaling 45,000 ppm air and breathing in, if you breathe in perhaps 5% of what they breathe out, you are still breathing in air at 2,400 ppm... Is sitting next to someone bad for health?

rtpg 4y ago

It's very hard to disassociate everything from placebo effects, and I had a CO2 monitor in my bedroom plugged in for a while. It trained me to open windows to create circulation, but unfortunately some of the reduced airflow was unsolvable short of me like... installing more ventilation into my room. I am glad I am aware of CO2 stuff (and definitely feel like I've reduced headaches and the like from being more mindful) but sometimes you will be informed of a bad CO2 environment but be totally incapable of doing anything about it and that really sucks.

bruckie 4y ago
There are some pretty cool newish ventilation products that are minimally invasive (e.g. don't have to run need ducts). Lunos makes a tiny ductless HRV that can provide indoor/outdoor air exchange. There are other products, too. https://www.buildwithrise.com/stories/ductless-heat-recovery https://www.buildwithrise.com/stories/ductless-heat-recovery lists several.
- rtpg 4y ago
  What I'm thinking of is more two places: - an office (fortunately not my case) - rented apartment that would not let me drill a hole in the wall Good info to have though! I feel like I would definitely look at setting that up in most cases

asdfman123 4y ago

Don’t assume when someone brings up a health hyperoptimization they’re stressing out about it. In fact, lots of people who do these sorts of things actually enjoy what amounts to a health hobby, in the same way any other hobbyist likes to geek out about their respective hobby.

londons_explore 4y ago
Stressing out about minutiae of your own health is, in most cases, wasted effort. However, putting that effort into fixing those small things for millions of people usually is worth it. For example, could OP contact their local building standards department and push for CO2 monitors in all new buildings? Could they do a study and publish the results to give a better scientific backing for any changes? Could they publish designs for a combined smoke and CO2 alarm? If they are truly powerless to do anything like that, then they should just ignore the whole thing and worry about more day to day risks, like slipping on ice on their front yard.
- asdfman123 4y ago
  But you're missing my point: why assume it's "stressing out"?