Humidity: natural health protection and hygiene for indoor air
A relative humidity of 40 - 60% reduces the risk of droplet infection
Optimally humidified room air protects you, your family and also your employees at the workplace from viruses that cause illness and at the same time strengthens the natural mechanisms of the body's immune system - our strongest weapon against viruses and germs that cause illness and germs in the air we breathe. In the following text, you will learn everything you need to know about how to use a humidifier to significantly minimise the risk of droplet infection (in times of rampant epidemics and pandemics the most common type of infection in influenza and other viral infections).
Optimally humidified room air kills viruses
Sneezing is contagious and problematic in several ways! If an infected person sneezes or coughs in a closed room, thousands of infectious droplets of germs are explosively ejected into the ambient air and sometimes remain there for a long time as highly infectious suspended particles. These germ droplets, also known as aerosols, form a conglomerate of the specific pathogen, water and salts, whose viability in the ambient air is decisively impaired by the prevailing humidity.
Air humidity between 40 - 60% r.h.: Viruses die within seconds
If pathogens are coughed up or sneezed out by an infected person into an optimally humidified room air with 40 - 60% relative humidity, the salt concentration within the droplet changes in such a way that the pathogen is killed immediately after contact with the air.
The floating time and infectiousness of the germ droplet is minimized to a few seconds, while the risk of infection is low!
Air humidity < 40 - 40% r.h.: Germs are preserved and remain infectious for a long time
Excessively dry room air below 40% RH, however, has exactly the opposite effect. The droplet, which has been coughed up or sneezed out, dries up, whereby the crystallised salts preserve the actual pathogen.
The aerosol, which has been shrunk by dehydration, floats through the room air for many hours and remains highly infectious during this time!
Effects of air humidity on the infectivity of viruses
It is not uncommon to get disapproving looks when coughing or sneezing in closed rooms, even from a distance of several meters. The fear of a possible infection is usually greater than the knowledge of the connection between room air humidity and the infectivity of germs. In the following lines, you will learn how the risks of droplet infection in closed rooms can be considerably minimized with optimum humidity. Germs droplets are released into the indoor air via the respiratory tract of infected persons when sneezing or coughing and can infect persons present during their period of suspension by inhaling the aerosol particle. It is not important to know "whether" the germ is infectious, but "how long"! Because the room air humidity plays a decisive role in the survivability and floating behaviour of aerosols!
Dry air (0 - 39% r.h.) keeps viruses infectious for a long time
Excessively dry room air in the corridor from 0 to 39% R.H. increases the risk of infection from airborne aerosols.
- High hovering time in the air
- Pathogens in the aerosol are preserved by crystallised salts
- Pathogens remain infectious in the room air
Optimally humidified air (40 - 60% RH) kills viruses
A room air humidity of 40 - 60% r.h. represents an extremely unfavourable environment for pathogens and reduces the risk of infection to a minimum!
- Low hovering time in the air
- Pathogens in the aerosol are killed by increased salt concentration
- Pathogens are killed in the room air
Excessively humid air (60 - 100% r.h.) keeps viruses infectious
Excessively humid room air in the corridor from 60 to 100% r.h. makes aerosols inert, but does not affect infectivity.
- Low hovering time in the air
- Increased volume and weight of the aerosol
- Pathogens remain infectious in the room air
Optimally humidified room air: doping for the immune system
The human body is not defenceless against the dangers of viruses and bacteria. The sophisticated protective mechanisms of the respiratory tract are a central component of the body's own defences and provide effective protection against pathogens in the air we breathe when the mucous membranes of the nose and throat are optimally moistened. If, on the other hand, excessively dry room air prevents the functionality of these protective mechanisms, pathogenic germs enter the body almost unhindered.
Air humidity is the fuel for the human immune system
Everybody knows that! Excessively dry room and heating air irritates the sensitive mucous membranes of the nose and throat, causes coughing, hoarseness and literally dries out our immune system. This, in turn, increases the risk of infection with pathogenic germs and viruses. But why does this happen?
The respiratory mucosa plays a major role in our defence against viruses and bacteria. It filters out the smallest pathogens (bacteria, fungi or viruses) from the air with each of our approx. 20,000 breaths per day and thus prevents these harmful germs from entering the body.
Damp mucous membranes are the protective shield against pathogenic germs
The respiratory mucosa consists of a ciliated epithelium, which is best imagined as a veritable carpet of millions of movable hairs. Between these cilia, mucus-forming goblet cells continuously produce a watery mucus that protectively covers the entire cell carpet and keeps it permanently moist. In this moist protective film, the cilia move up to 1,000 times per minute in waves towards the throat and also serve as a natural conveyor belt to transport adherent viruses and bacteria. Even the smallest microparticles get caught in this moist environment, are swallowed down with the mucus and killed.
If the air in the room is too dry, this natural protective mechanism comes to a standstill
Excessively dry room air withdraws the necessary water from the mucus layer, so that the previously protective slime layer becomes hard and loses its adhesiveness. The infectious pathogens no longer get caught and can continue their way into the body unhindered. At the same time, the conveyor belt of the cilia also comes to a standstill with increasing dryness. From this moment on, the body is almost defencelessly at the mercy of invading germs and pathogens!
Humidifiers are an effective protection against infection
With a constant air humidity between 40 to 60% r.h. you provide the body's own defence system with the necessary fuel to ensure that the important functions of the mucous membranes in the immune defence system work optimally! Trotec has the right humidifier for every room size, application and even for almost every personal taste.
With their hygrostat control system, Trotec humidifiers automatically ensure a healthy room air humidity in a corridor of 40 - 60% r.h. You don't even have to worry about refilling with water in many of the devices - the comfort humidifiers are equipped with a fixed water connection.
standard equipment
optionally available
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