Office

THE BANE OF INDOOR AIR QUALITY AT OFFICES

Indoor air quality at workplaces is a matter of serious concern these days and for good reason. Most of the workplaces are fitted with air conditioners
throughout the building, which circulate stale air leading to various illnesses such:

Cough and wheezing

Throat irritation

Chest congestion

Mild depression

Asthma

Lethargy

Headache

Respiratory diseases

Memory lapse

With extended duration, these problems become a drag on office productivity, and can eventually become fatalities.

SOURCES OF INDOOR AIR POLLUTION

Air Conditioners Circulate Stale Air Continuously

Every office these days has centralised air conditioners. They provide relief from the outside heat but circulate the same foul air throughout the office without purifying them, leading to visible mould growth or dust build up. This exposes employees to bacterial infections and respiratory diseases. Also, some offices with centralised air conditioning systems do not circulate the air quite frequently through the ducts as it would raise a bill on the power consumption, which is the main cause behind the air being continuously stale.

Overcrowded Office Generates High Amount of CO2

A crowded office leads to concentration of carbon dioxide, which deteriorates the indoor air quality. High levels of carbon dioxide can cause dizziness, nausea, headache etc. to employees working for long hours.

Lingering Food Smell is a
Drag on Employees’ Health

Most of the offices allow their employees to eat their food in the office space itself. This lingering smell of the food can cause irritation or could act as an allergen for certain people.

Further, the smell from the kitchen of the cafeteria, if not contained well, could act as a serious setback for people who have problems with a particular food smell.

Apart from food smell, if the office is near an open sewage, the smell of the drain tends waft in, which consequently scrimps on productivity.

Carpets Release Harmful
Chemicals

A lot of carpets, especially the new ones, emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as toluene, formaldehyde, acetone etc. Exposure to these chemicals on a daily basis can lead to headaches, throat and eye irritation, allergies and drowsiness. The new ones also have naphthalene balls that could produce toxic reactions among employees, if exposed on a daily basis.

Meanwhile, old carpets produce dust mites and their droppings can create severe allergic reactions.

The worst offenders are synthetic carpets that have nylon and olefin fibres. Exposure to these toxins at a significant level can lower your IQ and lead to diseases related to liver, kidneys and blood.

Conventional Office Cleaners can
Add to Indoor Pollution

Conventional cleaning products consist of alcohol, chlorine, ammonia and petrol-based solvents, which can cause irritation in the eyes or the throat, and headaches. In addition, some of the cleaning products — aerosol sprays, rug and upholstery cleaners, chlorine bleach, oven cleaners, floor polishes, among others — release dangerous chemicals which can contribute to allergies, asthma and other respiratory diseases.

Often, products that claim to be “green” or even “organic” contain elements that are injurious to health. The natural fragrance that these products give out can react with the air to produce dangerous pollutants indoors.

A Haven for Contagious
Diseases

Easy transmission of contagious diseases such as flu, cough etc. can lower productivity and profit generation because employees would not be able to work at their full potential. This problem usually occurs in enclosed office spaces with no air filtration.

Poor Ventilation Can Spike
Indoor Air Pollution

Any office that does not manage air exchange adequately is prone to high indoor humidity that leads to mould growth. In winters, inadequate ventilation gives rise to both moisture and humidity. Lower ventilation also leads to high concentration of indoor air pollutants arising from other sources. High levels of exposure to these can lead to serious diseases.

HOW TO TACKLE INDOOR POLLUTION

HEPA PURE^® eliminates indoor pollutants and returns the air quality to safer levels. Air purifiers use normal air purification filters, whereas HEPA PURE^® is specifically designed to manage indoor air quality present in the offices, thus making the machine very relevant to air purification at offices, large spaces in instititions, call centers etc.

The filters that are absolutely essential for workplaces are:

Activated Carbon Filter

When carbon is treated with oxygen, it causes numerous tiny pores to open up on the surface of the carbon. These pores are so many in number that one pound of activated carbon provides 60-150 acres of surface area with the objective to trap pollutants. The activated carbon filter works by the principle of adsorption where a gas element bonds with the surface of a solid. The solid material here being the activated carbon, which absorbs airborne pollutants equivalent to 60% of its weight. Once the airborne particles are absorbed by the filter, only the pure air flows out.

HEPA Filter

A HEPA filter is always used in combination with an activated carbon filter to achieve highly efficient air filtration. The HEPA filter alone is the most efficient filter for people suffering from allergies and asthma. It removes 99.97% of airborne irritants which are as small as 0.3 microns.

Ultraviolet

The ultraviolet filters are a game-changer. This new technology uses ultraviolet light to incinerate bacteria passing through it. This is beneficial for people suffering from asthma, lung diseases and allergies.

Photo Catalyst Filter

These filters contain titanium dioxide. They purify the air with the help of UV light. When the UV light shines upon the titanium dioxide electrons, the electrons start interacting with water molecules and form hydroxyl radicals. The hydroxyl radicals then attack the larger organic pollutant molecules and turn them into harmless substances like water.

Electrostatic Precipitator (ESP)

The ESP filter helps in removing fine particles like dust and smoke. It works by forcing the dirty gas pass through two electrodes where the first electrode is charged to a negative voltage and the second electrode is charged to a positive voltage. As the dust particles move through the first electrode, they pick up a negative charge and then they move towards the positive charged electrode. Since opposite charges attract each other, the dust and soot particles stick to the positive electrode.