There are all kinds of pollutants in the air around us that can be washed away by rain, and the oxidation that occurs after ultraviolet rays from the sun react with ozone and water vapor.
So what’s going on inside?
There is some oxidation going on inside, as a new study shows: Chemical scavenging by hydroxyl radicals (OH), a short-lived reactive species whose job is to oxidize other molecules , occurs through the combination of ozone leaking from ozone. from outside and from the fields of oxidation that we create about ourselves.
Scientists have found that in some situations, the levels of OH radicals indoors can be compared to the levels in the sun outside. In other words, we walk and breathe are mechanical chemical reactions that have effects on indoor air quality and human health.
“The discovery that we humans are not only a source of reactive chemicals, but are also able to transform them ourselves, was very surprising to us,” said atmospheric chemist Nora Zanoni of the Institute of Atmospheric and Climate Sciences. in Italy.
The team conducted experiments on three separate groups of four in a private, climate-controlled room, and the ozone levels reached the upper limit of what you would normally find indoors. OH values with or without ozone were recorded before and after people entered the room.
Thanks to a combination of computational fluid dynamics models and real time measurements (involving parts of mass spectrometry techniques), it became clear that OH radicals are abundantly present and occur around humans.
Scientists have discovered that our personal oxidation fields are formed when ozone reacts with the oils and fats in our skin, specifically the polyunsaturated triterpene squalene, which makes up about 10% of the skin’s protective lipids .
It is believed that we spend around 90% of our time indoors, and these findings have important implications for ensuring that we spend as much time breathing clean and healthy air as possible – something that is very we already know because of the pandemic.
Although we always know that oxidation processes take place indoors, in some cases, human-induced reactions seem to dominate.
It is important to understand these processes individually and in relation to other indoor chemicals that may come from building materials, furniture, and scented products, as interactions can cause irritants to the respiration and also remove pollutants.
Much remains to be done: Scientists are keen to understand, for example, how humidity levels affect interactions and how more people in a room can change the picture.
There is also the possibility that oxidation fields produced by humans can affect our perception of smell.
“We need to rethink the internal chemistry of occupied space, because the oxidation field we create will change many chemicals in our immediate environment,” said atmospheric chemist Jonathan Williams of the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Germany.
The research was published in the journal Science.
Source: Science Alert
Source: Arabic RT
