Be Careful Where You Cook Your Fish!
"Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air... "
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
The answer to the following question shocked me when I first heard it 15 years ago. Today, the answer is even more relevant.
Which is more polluted... indoor or outdoor air?
If you think you know the answer – please try and guess by how much compared to the other. The answer is indoor air and by at least two to three times more than outdoor air. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, it may even be as high as five to six times more dangerous than outside air. The bad news is that we spend 80% (or more) of our time indoors.
Worse, the quality of housing and the costs of energy have combined to fashion more airtight homes than ever before. With the wonderful energy savings comes a huge decrease in fresh and clean air inside your home. The homes are sealed, insulated, foamed, and sprayed with chemicals and materials that are toxic themselves. There we sit inside, all comfy and cozy, not knowing that healthy breathing is, excuse the pun, "out the window."
Interestingly, several years ago, a study in California analyzed the particles and gasses emitted by residential cooking. The study varied the types of food and cooking performed, ranging from baked lasagna to fried tortillas. The researchers even measured oven cleaning. It turns out that cooking raised the level of combustion pollutants, such as carbon monoxide and carcinogens (formaldehyde and polyaromatic hydrocarbons), above minimum standards set as safe by the Air Resources Board. Broiling fish was particularly bad for creating formaldehydes.
Whether you are indoors or outdoors, the air pollutants are there and the effects of many are well known. For example, allergies to plants, especially ragweed, can lead to lethargy and mental fatigue (and not just from the drugs we take to ward off the symptoms). In many cases, symptoms bordering on depression can lead to health and happiness struggles. The bad news is that ragweed is ubiquitous, and the most common allergen in the U.S.
Even worse news is that the air pollution from these many allergens, other particulates, and even gases is linked to damaging and dangerous physiologic changes in the human body. Scientists five years ago showed that smog in cities causes constriction of blood vessels in arteries. They have also connected heart attacks with air pollution... small particles in the air can lead to death within two hours of inhalation. Smoke from the fuel in combustion fires from coal and forest fires are proven culprits. How this happens is unknown but being studied.
The mechanisms of action implicate and are consistent with inflammatory processes. White blood cells (neutrophils) and even platelets become dysfunctional when the air quality suffers. Chemical markers in the blood and tissue of the lungs increase. These markers tell us that the inflammatory cascade has begun – and repeat insults can surely lead to chronic disease and even death. I would even say that much of the heart disease in the world is linked intimately to air quality.
Sources of air pollution that may in fact "rev-up" our immune systems include (from largest to smallest):
| • |
Mites – These relatively large animals can cause severe allergies and chronic inflammatory states, but it is their excretory products and pieces of their body that mainly lead to the reactions. Mites are about 1/64 of an inch in size. |
| • |
Pollen – For many of us with allergies, certain seasons bring on particular allergens and voila... sneezes, runny noses, and congestion. Just like clockwork, I get symptoms in the spring from April 1 through June 1. I make sure and change my house filters in the middle and near the end of this period to remove as many residual allergens as I can. The size of pollens varies from 10-100 microns (there are 25,400 microns in an inch). |
| • |
Animal dander – Dog and cat hair can trigger reactions from the particles that are shed by these and even other animals. Air filters and vacuuming regularly can help considerably. Here the particle sizes range from 3/10 to 100 microns in size. |
| • |
Mold – It goes without saying that molds and fungus can stimulate strong immune reactions and thus chronic disease. Sizes range from 1/2 to 6 microns. |
| • |
Bacteria – These bugs can lead to mild reactions at times and are smallish at 1/2 to 1 micron in size. |
| • |
Tobacco smoke – The particles in smoke are small at about 1/100 to 1 micron in size. For many of us with cancer in the family, smoking and second-hand smoke can be deadly. |
| • |
Viruses – Small organisms at 3/1,000 to 4/100 of a micron can cause some problems if airborne. |
| • | Radon – This radioactive gas comes from the natural decay of uranium and is notoriously dangerous. It exists in some homes and basements and is associated with deadly forms of lung cancer (one of the ways nonsmokers get lung cancer). The problem is that this gas is hard to detect and harder to get rid of. |
Guess what? There is a solution to the problem, but it will take time and energy to figure out what makes the most sense for you. Luckily, large particles (greater than 1 micron) take hours to minutes to drop out of the air. This gives us the dust on the bookshelf. And our body has natural filters... our nose and throat and the hairs (so-called cilia) inside our respiratory tracts filter out particles 1/2 to 3/4 microns and larger. The problem is with the smaller particles. Particles smaller than 1 micron can stay in the air almost forever. The answer is in air filters. There are various types, and only one that I think is dangerous.
| • |
Ozone Filters – Stay AWAY from any air filter that generates ozone. The filters create molecules with three oxygen atoms bound loosely together instead of the usual two atoms. These "triplets" are dangerous and can give an atom of oxygen to certain molecules and chemicals and thus, turn them into dangerous "oxidized" chemicals. |
| • |
High-Efficiency Particulate Arresting (HEPA) Filters remove particles 0.3 microns and larger. Many doctors recommend these, and many hospitals use them. Many vacuum cleaners use this technology. |
| • |
Electrostatic Charge Filters – These filters attach charges to particles as they fly by and use opposite-charged plates and filters to trap them. Almost the tiniest particles can be captured this way. |
| • | Mechanical Filters – These are the standard 20x20x1 inch (or whatever size your home takes) cardboard with fiberglass filters that slip into your heater or A/C units. These filters have MERV ratings that describe what percent of particles from 3-10 microns will be filtered. Often these must be changed every 30-90 days. |
However, as you might imagine, the costs go up the more (and smaller) you want to filter.
When it comes to air quality, here is what I do:
| • |
I keep an air filter in my bedroom. It filters via electrostatic charges. I have had this sort of filter in my bedroom for years, and I am sold on the idea that it leaves the air (and the particles) a bit negatively charged. This is similar to what storms with lightning do. I have to remove a metal core for monthly cleaning. Man, does it get dirty. |
| • |
I use a mechanical filter with a MERV rating of 11. This filters a minimum of 85% of particles that size and is one of the higher MERV ratings. The filter costs $16. |
| • |
I write the date three months forward on the top of my air cleaner in my house and change it quarterly. |
| • |
When I clean my oven, I do it in the fall or spring when I can leave the house for several hours and leave the windows wide open. |
| • |
When working in the garden, I try to breath through my nose slowly and deeply to capture particles. |
| • | When running outside I also breath through my nose. Amazingly, years ago, when I walked around London, I would be sure to breathe through my nose... and by the end of most days I could blow my nose and black particulate was always on the tissues. Diesel is nasty! |
I also am contemplating an electronic filter, which would be placed in the air ducts.
Here's to a sigh and a deep breath to our health,
David Eifrig, Jr., M.D.
P.S. A study this past week AGAIN confirmed the value of drinking coffee: It lowers the risk of gout, and it doesn't matter if it's caffeinated or decaffeinated. Yahoooo!