Air sickness

Raloff J (2003) Air sickness How microscopic dust particles cause subtle but serious harm. Sci News 164 1-11... 

By way of contrast it may be mentioned that xenon is more soluble in the body even than nitrogen, and causes dizziness and numbness. It has been suggested that xenon may be the cause of air-sickness at high altitudes. 

University, one patient suffering from car sickness reported alleviation of his symptoms. Further studies were then conducted, and it was discovered that the mixture of compounds was effective in treating other forms of motion sickness, including air sickness and sea sickness. Marketed under the trade name Dramamine, this formulation quickly became one of the most widely used drugs for the treatment of motion sickness. It has since been replaced with a newer drug, called meclizine, which is sold under the trade name Dramamine II. 

Avoiding sick building syndrome requires special consideration of building constmction and maintenance material used. Asbestos, organic solvents, paint sprays, dirty filters, moist environment caused by poorly maintained humidifiers, and dirty HVAC machinery have contributed to the deterioration of indoor air quahty. Nonstop quahty maintenance is required at all times. 

Milk may be a carrier of diseases from animals or from other sources to humans. To avoid contamination before pasteurization, healthy animals should be separated from sick animals or those with infected udders. The animals should be clean, kept in clean housing with clean air, and handled by workers and equipment under strictly sanitary conditions. Post-pasteurization contamination can occur as a result of improper handling, due to exposure to contaminated air, improperly sanitized equipment, or an infected worker. 

In nonindustrial settings, MCS substances are the cause of indoor air pollution and are the contaminants in air and water. Many of the chemicals which trigger MCS symptoms are known to be irritants or toxic to the nervous system. As an example, volatile organic compounds readily evaporate into the air at room temperature. Permitted airborne levels of such contaminants can still make ordinary people sick. When the human body is assaulted with levels of toxic chemicals that it cannot safely process, it is likely that at some point an individual will become ill. For some, the outcome could be cancer or reproductive damage. Others may become hypersensitive to these chemicals or develop other chronic disorders, while some people may not experience any noticeable health effects. Even where high levels of exposure occur, generally only a small percentage of people become chemically sensitive. 

Building related illness (BRl) Any health problem related to poor air quality, due to equipment malfunction or contaminants in buildings. See also Sick building syndrome (SBS). 

Fatal accident rate Lost-time injury rate Capital cost of accidents Number of plant/community evacuations Cost of business interruption Cost of workers compensation claims Number of hazardous material spills (in excess of a threshold) Tonnage of hazardous material spilled Tonnage of air, water, liquid and solid effluent Tonnage of polluting materials released into the environment Employee exposure monitoring Number of work related sickness claims Number of regulatory citations and fines Ecological impact of operations (loss or restoration of biodiversity, species, habitats)... 

As the science of indoor air quality has matured, indoor air professionals have realized that many indoor air contaminants and the associated health effects are linked to specific types of buildings and their characteristics. For example, radon is primarily an indoor air concern in homes because of the ease with which it can be transported inside residential construction from the soil beneath. On the other hand. Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) primarily afflicts office building occupants who experience acute health and comfort effects that appear to be linked to time spent in a specific building. 

It has been estimated that hundreds of billions of dollars per year is lost due to decreased workplace productivity and increased health costs that can be saved by maintaining good indoor air quality in commercial buildings. The financial benefits of improving lAQ can accrue from reducing costs for health care and sick leave, as well as the costs of performance decrements at work caused by illness or adverse health symptoms and of responding to occupant complaints and costs of LAQ investigations. 

Schulz, C. and Sick, V., Tracer-LIF diagnostics Quantitative measurement of fuel concentration, temperature and fuel/air ratio in practical combustion systems, Prog. Energy Combust. Sci., 31, 75, 2005. 

Formaldehyde is a harmful compound released from walls and furnitures in new houses because adhesives containing HCHO are often used in constmction materials. In addition, H CHO is emitted by tobacco smoke and combustion exhaust gases. Long exposure to HCHO causes serious health problems called sick house diseases. In Japan, the concentration of HCHO in indoor air is regulated [54] to under 0.08 ppm based on the recommendation of the World Health Organization (WHO). 

Aheam DG, Crow SA, Simmons RB, et al. 1996. Fungal colonization of fiberglass insulation in the air distribution system of a multi-story office building VOC production and possible relationship to a sick building syndrome. J Ind Microbiol 16 280-285. 

You want to know why I steal that money Well, a week ago poor mother she is so very sick. They tell me she cannot live many days but I think if only I have money I can save her yet. I can have doctors to see her, big doctors who will go to sick people only for very much money. I can buy her food and medicine and perhaps send her away to some place where the sun will shine for her, where she can breathe God s pure air. Why even strong people can scarce live in a place like this where the sunshine never come, where it is cold and damp all the time. How can the poor little mother hope to grow well again in such a place, without good food, often without a fire, the air not fit for anyone to breathe. I think of it all the time. I lie awake at night and think of it, it is before me all day at my work. Money, money, if only I have a little money, I can save my mother yet. Then the chance come, the money is there before me. I look at it, I take it. That is all. 

Phenol and other volatile organic compounds were measured in the air of 50 homes or apartments in Finland (Kostiainen 1995). The average concentration was 0.23 ppb, with a range of 0-0.77 ppb. Phenol levels were not significantly higher in houses in which people complained of symptoms that resembled those of a sick building syndrome. 

Kostiainen R. 1995. Volatile organic compounds in the indoor air of normal and sick houses. Atmos Environ 29 693-702. 

If you are in public and you start experiencing these symptoms, first ask yourself, did anything out of the ordinary just happen, a loud pop Did someone spray something on the crowd Are other people getting sick too Is there an odor of new mown hay, green corn, something fruity, or camphor where it shouldn t be If the answer is yes, then calmly (if you panic you breathe faster and inhale more air/poison) leave the area and head up wind, or outside. 

Camarasa and Serra-Baldrich [94] reported allergic contact dermatitis after repeated contact with TPP-treated plastics. Meeker and Stapleton [95] indicated endocrine disruptive properties for TPP and TDCiPP, through a negative correlation with semen quality and thyroid hormone levels, respectively. Kanazawa et al. [71] associated mucosal symptoms of the sick building syndrome with high indoor exposure to TBP. These symptoms include irritation to the eyes, nose, and throat symptoms such as flushing, and mucosal symptoms such as irritation to the eyes, nose, and throat the latter symptoms were strongly associated with TBP levels in air and dust. 

Some asbestos materials can break into small fibers that can float in the air, and these fibers can be inhaled. These tiny fibers are small, cannot be seen, and can pass through the filters of normal vacuum cleaners and get back into the air. Once inhaled, asbestos fibers can become lodged in tissue for a long time. After many years, cancer or other sickness can develop. In order to be a health risk, asbestos fibers must be released from the material and be present in the air for people to breathe. A health risk exists only when asbestos fibers are released from the material or product. Soft, easily crumbled asbestos-containing material, previously defined as friable asbestos, has the greatest potential for asbestos release and therefore has the greatest potential to create health risks. 

Mr. Smith has severe motion sickness during air travel. He will be flying to Brazil next week, and you, his physician, would hke to prescribe an antihistamine to prevent motion sickness. Which of the following would be most effective ... 

---