Is your office/school making you sick? Humidity Alert!

I'd like to set a precedent to say that I'm not a doctor. I have a Bachelor's in Biology, work as a biochemist, love to have these kinds of discussions with my doctor, and try to use observational experience before forming any conclusions on the subject. Although there's much more to this than a dust allergy, I'll begin there to build context.

History: Every year between January and March, I would get very ill from a sinus and/or upper respiratory infection. Sometimes it was outside of these months, but this was when it was the worst. A few years ago I got a new doctor who correctly diagnosed my specific problem whereas other doctors (specialists/allergists had failed to do so). Within seconds, he checked me out and said, "You're allergic to dust. Dust is the most common allergy. Actually, it's not dust itself, but the dustmites in them." Suddenly, everything clicked. I grew up in an old house and got sick often there, especially after cleaning. As I grew up and moved out of my house, I took up building/fixing computers as a hobby. A day or so after opening an old one, I got sick. The cleaning persons in my office would use a featherduster and within days I was sick (this is all in a span of years). What didn't make sense was after they vacuumed I got sick. I asked the facilities person to check the vacuum and they found that it was running but not picking up, throwing dust into the air. It was fixed it and I no longer experienced any negative effects.

Dust Allergy Diagnosis: The doctor advised that I should always dust with a damp cloth (I found Clorox or Lysol wipes work better because of the methyl alcohol which kills dustmites on contact). The damp cloth keeps the dust from kicking up into the air. Do this as often as possible. Use a vacuum with a HEPA filter. In addition, I've found that a canister vacuum works better than a bag and I always wear a medium-duty dustmask when emptying or cleaning. I was advised to use Ocean Nasal Spray (with is only a 0.65% Saline Solution and water). After buying one bottle though, I found out I can make the same solution with 100 ml of water and 6.5 grams of regular ole salt. Work knowledge finally found a use at home . My doctor also said to open all the windows in the house even in winter to allow the humity to equalize now and then. In addition, I should purchase a warm-mist humidifier to raise humidity.

Those last two things struck a chord. What was the relationship between humidity and me getting sick? The study was on! I bought a Honey well Hygrometer (I trust Honeywell because we use their instruments in our labs at work) and decided to do some measuring. I really like this device by the way ^_^.

So, at home I found out that outside most of the time was beneficial. On cold, dry, windy days it was horrible on my sinuses. I could feel them go dry, crackle, had a hard time swallowing and my lips would chap quickly. Most of the time, the outside was BETTER than any other environment according to the hygrometer and the Weather Channel.

Within my home, humidity in summer is fine (or even too high at times), but in the winter it was low (23 - 28% whereas 30 - 55% is optimal). Next was my car. Much like my home, it was a little low, but it's a quick easy fix. Roll down the window for a little while when stopped.

For added persepctive, Death Valley has an average relative humidity of about 23%. That being said...

I get to work and plop my hygrometer down on my desk. I was surprised in the summer to read it was at 30%. In fall around 20%, and now in winter between 5 - 12%. 5%? Surely this digital gadget must be bugging, but no, it's right on when it comes to temperature and the battery is new. I'm constantly drinking tea or coffee for the steam in addition to trying to cure the dry throat and lips.

I let my manager know, who seemd concerned but unwilling/unable to do anything about it...then they roll out a new policy decreasing our number of sick days for the upcoming year. Lovely. So, the company wants me to be healthy, but are providing me with the environment that causes the most harm. So, you can see how this turns into a kind of strange balancing act and can understand how one may think there's some sort of conspiracy going on (even though I don't think this is the case). I love my job, and the company has a lot of great ethics so I'm not going to be claiming discrimination against a person's physical condition (nor would I even if I hated it, I just don't think they fully comprehend the ramifications of their inactions). Often, devices designed to keep buildings temperately moderated remove humidity from the air: Heaters, Air-Conditioners, Ventilation Fans, etc. Companies would benefit from having their employees well. Healthy employees = greater productivity = less money spent for people not working.

How does humity play a role? According to my doctor, when your respiratory system gets dry, it then becomes 'cracked'. Your lungs and sinuses are protected by a slimey layer that prevents infection (mucus). When they become dried and cracked, the body tries to react by producing more mucus...trouble is, without water, that mucus generated is thicker and infection has already occurred. Yellow mucus means infection, green means very infected. (Probably because of culture count? Help me out M.D.s and MicroBiologists!). At that point antibiotics may be your best cure.

Ye olde chicken soup is a great addition for it's protein as well as hot and salty liquid. Careful taking anything like Nasonex because of its side-effects common in it an other steroids. Halls and other 'sugar cures' also make me wary as it can cause irritability especially when trying to sleep soon after. And for NyQuil, Robitussin and other codeine/expectorant promotional drugs, I'll pass.

Please take a look at this chart: Optimal surviving conditions for illness in humidity

There are many many more resources on the web that explore the effects of relative humidity. Getting sick from Bacteria, Viruses, Fungi, Mites, Respiratory Infections, Allergy, and/or Asthma? Check your humidity! Save sick days, save doctor visits, save the cost of prescription/over-the-counter medication. The more active and healthy YOU are, the more time you can spend helping other people.

[edit on 8-1-2009 by saint4God]

Good information and I definitely believe there's truth to the humidity thing. I remember when I was very very young my mother putting a humidifier in my room when I was sick or had a cold. I guess that's sort of old-school in these days of medication, medication and more medication.

Originally posted by TXRabbit
Good information and I definitely believe there's truth to the humidity thing. I remember when I was very very young my mother putting a humidifier in my room when I was sick or had a cold.

I think those of us in the next generation have to question "why did mom do that?" Many times mom was right even though she may not have had scientific data.

Originally posted by TXRabbit
I guess that's sort of old-school in these days of medication, medication and more medication.

That's a conspiracy in itself. It revolves around the consumer's desire for an instant cure and pharmaceutical companies pushing their drugs when unnecessary.

[edit on 8-1-2009 by saint4God]

Great information, and I hadn't thought before about how this can play out in a work setting. I agree with you that there's probably not a real "conspiracy" in the organized sense, but I think there is a real sense that we're being conned into living and working in less healthy conditions without questioning them but looking instead to pills to fix it.

I was having a really bad winter for "colds" a few years ago, finally tested the humidity in my room and found it was 15%

Bought a humidifier and what a difference!

Be careful to buy a good humidifier and/or keep it super-clean, though, since some of them are prone to growing molds which can only make things worse. And I've also found saline nasal rinsing to be really helpful when it gets too dry.

Originally posted by americandingbat
Great information, and I hadn't thought before about how this can play out in a work setting. I agree with you that there's probably not a real "conspiracy" in the organized sense, but I think there is a real sense that we're being conned into living and working in less healthy conditions without questioning them but looking instead to pills to fix it.

Totally agree.

Originally posted by americandingbat
I was having a really bad winter for "colds" a few years ago, finally tested the humidity in my room and found it was 15%

Yeah, that's pretty low. My office right now is at 7%, but since it's 74 degrees I don't think anyone questions the conditions. You'd think a room full of scientists would question why many of us are sneezing, sniffling, and getting sick O_o.

Originally posted by americandingbat
Bought a humidifier and what a difference!

I didn't want to say in my post that you can feel a difference, but it is true. Walking from a dry room to an optimal one, it's easier to breathe, eyes don't get dry/tired, and is quite refreshing.

Originally posted by americandingbat
Be careful to buy a good humidifier and/or keep it super-clean, though, since some of them are prone to growing molds which can only make things worse.

Excellent point. I found a great household cleaner to be vinegar, especially for humdifiers. Vinegar is an acid that's safe to consume (especially on beach frenchfried) and yet eliminates mold. It also works for clogged drains: Drop some baking soda down the drain, then pour vinegar slowly. It foams up and eats away all the gunk in the pipes. Liquid Plummer/Draino is unnecessary and unhealthy.

Originally posted by americandingbat
And I've also found saline nasal rinsing to be really helpful when it gets too dry.

Yah, the salt in the nasal spray is more or less a surfactant, to make sure bacteria doesn't grown in the water. I would recommend if you're making your own to use filtered water since there's a lot of chlorine in tap water. I've purchased a water filtration system for the house that uses rock salt to remove chlorine and other impurities. It was expensive and didn't really have the money for it, but it keeps skin from getting dry and irritated. Also, the body will overcompensate if you have oily skin, the chlorine strips the natural surface oil, then the body overproduces resulting in pimples/breakouts from clogged pores.

[edit on 9-1-2009 by saint4God]

Mid-day yesterday a coworker asked me, "are you having trouble breathing around here? I mean, I'm asthmatic but it seems to get really bad at work." A few hours later I was filling out paperwork that I need to turn in and noticed drops of blood. Great. Nosebleed. I'm usually on top of this kind of thing with saline solution every few hours. Anywho, word gets around despite my trying to slip into the restroom unnoticed to take care of the matter. My bosses' boss came up to me a half hour later and asked if I was okay. Thought it was really cool that she was concerned but I was fine, told her it was the dry air, lack of humidity and that someone else on the team was having issues with asthma earlier as well.

[edit on 15-1-2009 by saint4God]

I was surprised that my boss's boss (tech mananger) called me over to a gentleman she was speaking with, who I now know is the facility manager/engineer(?). I'd mentioned the nosebleeds, sinus infections, and co-worker's asthma. He listened, nodded and turned to our tech manager, "the best we could do is install a ventilation humidifier unit like those required in a few areas". Good deal right? Then said, "how much money you got?" Ruh roh. She's a pro though and says, "how much do you think it'd cost?" It looked like he'd gone through this round before too, "thousands". She asks, "how many thousands, two? twenty?". He nodded at her second estimate, "closer to twenty". With her mouth open and speechless, I knew what this meant.

I'd interjected, "What about a personal humidfier, at my desk?" His reply, "you'd have to clear it with the safety office". Which is a polite way of saying, "good luck with that". Anything personal that's plugged in is in high scrutiny, especially when it affects the air that everyone breathes. I'd have to clean it once a day with vinegar, run it for 20 minutes before everyone else gets there or somesuch. Also, knowing the size of our office, I'd be more than fortunately to get a 1% increase after a week. My tech manager was still speechless, searching for alternatives. I merely said, "Thank you for your time and letting us know what options we have." To which he kindly said "sure" and was on his way. No matter how the pie is sliced, it's cheaper for people to get sick now and then than a ventilation humdifier.

If anyone has any recommendations, I'm all ears.

[edit on 20-1-2009 by saint4God]

Winter is coming, and for many parts in the U.S., this means higher winds, lower temperatures, and reduced humidity. I've got the indoor humifier going and the saline solution close at hand...but it's not just a concern for those of us with a dust allergy. We've got three types of influenza going around - Common, Avian, and H1N1 (swine). Dry repiratory systems are more susceptible to these viruses as well as your typical staphyloccus and streptoccus bacterial nose/throat/chest infections. Severe cases of any of the above could lead to bronchitis. Please take care, know the humity in your area at home, work, and outside, taking whatever preventative measures necessary to prevent illness.

a reply to: saint4God

i just want you to know, 7 years after making this thread, it has educated me to something i had no clue about, this is good info.

a reply to: saint4God

humidity in florida is always over 70 percent sometimes its like 90 percent get used to it

originally posted by: pryingopen3rdeye
a reply to: saint4God

i just want you to know, 7 years after making this thread, it has educated me to something i had no clue about, this is good info.

Glad it was a help! Armed with this knowledge and adapting accordingly, I've been sick a lot less throughout the year. Mentioning it to others tends to get some eyerolls now and then, but overtime I've seen some agreement in my household.

originally posted by: livinginflorida16
a reply to: saint4God

humidity in florida is always over 70 percent sometimes its like 90 percent get used to it

Florida is sounding more and more like paradise to me environmentally. I can see why so many people want to visit/retire there. I'm planning to visit in December if all goes well. Instead of a cold, windy, dry, sub-freezing temperatures, I'm looking for some excellent beach time.