{"id":237726,"date":"2020-11-22T22:00:31","date_gmt":"2020-11-22T21:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emariete.com\/?p=237726"},"modified":"2020-11-22T22:00:31","modified_gmt":"2020-11-22T21:00:31","slug":"ventilation-co2-covid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emariete.com\/en\/ventilacion-co2-covid\/","title":{"rendered":"What does CO\u2082 have to do with Covid?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Learn what CO2 has to do with Covid and how measuring the concentration of CO2 in the environment can help reduce the likelihood of contagion<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By now, everyone knows that there is a link between CO2 and Covid<\/strong> because of the many times it has been discussed in the media, but many people do not know exactly what this relationship is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article was part of the introduction of the tutorial for the construction of the homemade CO2 meter but the article was already getting to be a huge length, so I have decided to separate this part and keep it in its own space.<\/strong> independent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

What does CO\u2082 (Carbon Dioxide) have to do with Covid-19?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Absolutely nothing.<\/strong><\/span> However, these two words together are on the lips of many experts in the health and scientific community. Why? Read on...<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The CO\u2082 is a gas dangerous to humans<\/strong>. In high concentrations it can cause ailments such as dizziness, headaches, increased blood pressure, accelerated heart rate, and in severe cases can lead to asphyxia and unconsciousness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have been talking and hearing about the Coronavirus all the time for months now, perhaps too much for our mental health<\/strong>I am not going to comment on it. Everything I can say about the Coronavirus, you probably already know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We simply have to remember that, at present, the best way to prevent Covid is to protect against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.<\/strong> and this is achieved through fairly basic, almost hygienic practices. And at the heart of all this is that he who avoids the occasion avoids the danger<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u26a0\ufe0f The air we breathe and Covid<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Although CO\u2082 has no direct link to Covid<\/strong>yes, I do there is a very important indirect relationship<\/strong> and, that is, the quality of the air we breathe, and the viral load that this air may have<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When there are several people in a room and one of them is a carrier of the virus, the virus will is suspended in the air for a variable time,<\/strong> at the expense of the other people sharing the room being able to breathe it in and out, and catch<\/strong>. These are the famous aerosols<\/strong>We have been hearing so much about them lately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The more time passes, the more the viral load in the air increases, so the more the airborne virus load increases. increasing the danger<\/strong> of other people becoming infected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For this reason, adequate renewal of the air in the room is essential<\/strong>and this is achieved by ventilating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In working environments it is more or less common to have forced air systems that facilitate ventilation and air exchange (and even filtering through HEPA filters<\/strong>) but this is very rare in private homes, where the only option is often to ventilate by opening the windows.<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The problem is that the virus is invisible, we can't look at the air and see the viral load in it<\/strong> to decide to ventilate when we see that it is necessary. This is where the CO\u2082 meter comes into play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cient\u00edficas (Spanish National Research Council)<\/strong> (CSIC), in its guidance on reducing the risk of contagion<\/a><\/strong>CO\u2082 measurements are one of the best ways to check that we are maintaining adequate ventilation:<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The CO\u2082 (carbon dioxide) is a gas that we naturally expel when we breathe<\/strong>The concentration of this gas in the environment can give us an idea of how much of this gas is present in the environment.uploaded<\/em>\"the air in that room is, what is allows us to decide when it is time to ventilate and for how long to do so<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other words, knowing the concentration of CO2 allows us to know the \"second-hand air <\/em>we are breathing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is especially important in winter,<\/strong> because, due to the low temperatures, we tend to ventilate much less<\/strong>delaying the time to open the windows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Illustration<\/a>
Illustration CO2 @GloriaMomay<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As he says on Twitter the Spanish professor and scientist, from the University of Colorado, Jos\u00e9 Luis Jim\u00e9nez<\/strong>one of the world's leading authorities on aerosol-borne transmission of COVID-19, echoed Dr. Holte's words:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Dr. Holte: \"I dream of the day when all doctors know what a CO2 meter is, how to use it, and can educate their patients about the benefits of clean air to stop the transmission of COVID-19\". https:\/\/t.co\/XevL0xumhn<\/a><\/p>- Jose-Luis Jimenez (@jljcolorado) December 31, 2020<\/a><\/blockquote>