Air Conditioners have become a necessity for summer days when almost everyone seeks chilling effects without understanding the risk factors compromising their health. Generally, people have become so fond of using ACs throughout their day, that they have forgotten the cautions of using excess air conditioners on a daily basis. No amount of cooling could keep your body cold in this scorching heat. Therefore, people need to adjust as per their daily requirements to utilize ACs for manipulating their room temperature till it doesn’t affect their physical or mental health.
ACs are being used at an alarming rate
It might sound exaggerated but the prolonged usage of ACs could be more harmful than standing in the sun. However, people don’t seem to worry about their physical health but wait till it starts affecting their cognitive performance on a daily basis. This will be an alarming situation where everyone will get addicted to staying in the AC that they couldn’t live without. But no matter what we all should be aware of its prolonged usage effects on our body. Then it’s up to us whether we want to exceed the daily usage limit or not.
AC side effects on the body
This article will highlight some of the most common to worst health problems caused by the prolonged usage of ACs. Listed below health problems could be eye-opening because some people might be suffering from any of these problems:-
Sick Building Syndrome- This is a common problem in offices where centralized ACs are set up to keep the indoor air cool for a longer time. However, for a few hours, you won’t notice anything except the chilling cold air but after 2-3 hours people will start experiencing headaches, loss of concentration, dryness, cough and fatigue causing your body to feel lethargic. Therefore, it will also affect your work-life balance causing you to lose concentration in your work. On the other hand, indoor air will become toxic and unbearable after some time.
Steps for solution:– These steps can be easily followed with proper guiding methods. So, to treat “Sick Building Syndrome” you can take the following steps:-
A)- The building should have a proper ventilation system and more air barriers to continue the flow.
B)- Try to keep the temperature between 25-27 degrees as it is a moderate setting which doesn’t cause much harm to your body.
Dehydration– Air Conditioners keep the indoor air cool by sucking out the moisture in the air. In prolonged usage, it will also start causing dehydration which is bad in summer as you will largely notice in the summer. Therefore, you need to avoid such problems to maintain the quality of your skin.
Steps for solution:- People start experiencing this problem as soon as some time passes in the AC environment. However, you can’t maintain proper humidity and cold at the same time. But still, there are a few adjustments that you can make to regulate humidity indoors.
A)- The obvious answer is that you need to maintain humidity in the air by changing a few settings in the AC e.g. try to use fan-only mode as it will rotate the indoor air till it becomes moist.
B)- Now, this one is really obvious because if you can’t change the AC setting then you have to keep your skin moist with the help of moisturizers.
Respiratory problems– Most people often fall victim to respiratory problems e.g. irritated nasal passage which will make breathing much harder. However, this is the cost that you have to bear if you work in a low-ventilation building. It might affect your respiratory organs as well because people tend to breathe cold air in an indoor closed environment causing nausea after some time. It might affect your health in any unfamiliar way. So, it’s best to address this problem as quickly as possible.
Steps for solution- Respiratory problems are not only caused by ACs but polluting air quality should also be blamed. Therefore, you need to follow the steps listed below if you are always suffering from a dry cough or cold.
A)- You need to check the AC filters if they are dirty then change them immediately because air filters will act as a barrier to stop all the harmful pollutants that will cause respiratory problems in the first place.
B)- You can also set an air purifier or humidifier which is really common as people are struggling with bad air quality in the metro town. Therefore, taking such steps will actually be good for your health.
Trigger asthma or allergies:- This problem is hugely overlooked as people who are suffering from respiratory problems like asthma or allergies continue to work in the same environment which negatively affects their health. People need to be much aware of their respiratory problems because the lungs of asthma patients can only work 30-45%, raising an alarm for everyone. So, if you are someone who is suffering from asthma or any respiratory problems then you need to see the doctor first then you can apply the listed below steps for relief.
Steps for solution- Asthma patients are more prone to AC side effects as compared to any other. Therefore, listed below are some preventive methods that you can apply in your daily lifestyle to keep your asthma in control:-
A)– Firstly, keep your inhaler close to you and if you are staying indoors most of the time then ensure ACs with better air filters and maintain humidity levels as per your convenience.
B)- You can also use air purifiers or humidifiers to adjust the air quality for extra safety in indoor air. Following this, avoiding low temperatures and keeping your humidity levels at normal will promote healthy air quality which is good for your lungs.
Conclusion
The reality is way clear for all of us, with scorching heat tempting us to stay in cool weather, we always want to listen to our heart instead of knowing that it might be bad. But still, AC prolonged usage will expose your health to various health problems which will be hard to treat until you start making some changes in
your habits for the sake of your health.