Category: health

Air Pollution & Mental Illnesses

Sotirios PapathanasiouLeave a comment

It is well known that exposure to high levels of air pollutants raises the risk of physical illnesses such as respiratory infections, lung cancer, heart disease, stroke, dementia and Alzheimer. However, there are new studies suggesting that air pollution is responsible for mental illnesses too.

Back in 1970 Lead Pb (from the Latin plumbum) was used to be added in the petrol fossil fuel, as a result, it was later associated for contributing to behavioral problems, learning difficulties and lowered IQ among children.

In recent years, Sulphur Dioxide SO2, has been associated with a high risk of hospital admissions for mental disorders in Shanghai.Read More »

How NO2 affects your health?

Sotirios PapathanasiouLeave a comment

I can guess with high accuracy that your answer to the question of the image above is the Healthy Lung. If I guessed right, which I did, then I will advise you to be careful about what you breathe.

These are some gases that chemically poison the body’s oxygen transport systems, preventing oxygen from reaching the body tissues like the Carbon Monoxide CO, which combines with haemoglobin and blocks its ability to carry oxygen around the body, but there are some other gases that cause asphyxiation by producing severe irritation in the air passages and lungs like the Nitrogen Dioxide NO2.

NO2 dissolves in the moisture on any moist tissue surfaces, and forms strong acids or alkalis which then burn the delicate tissues. Health effects are related to its ability to dissolve in moisture to produce Nitric Acid which is a strong mineral acid.Read More »

Wildfires and Air Pollution

Sotirios PapathanasiouLeave a comment

The last few months and due to the lack of rain and the climate change some places in the world are facing extreme wildfires, most of the times manmade. Places like Galicia-Spain, Portugal and California-USA have been facing a great danger. The wildlife has been left without its habitat and humans without clean air. Unfortunately this kind of distraction creates enormous quantities of air pollution. A lot of times the air pollution spreads downwind from the fire source and even reaches other countries, so-called Cross Border pollution.

What kind of pollutants do the wildfires produce?

Mainly wood smoke contains a mixture of PM2.5, PM10 particles and various gases. More precisely wildfire smoke is a mixture of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds VOCs and a wide rage of particulate matter PMs that include ash, black carbon BC and organic carbon, such as Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons PAHs.

The smoke is a very complicated mixture of pollutants in the air, and it affects human health. It comes from lots of different sources, including trees, decomposed leaves, animals, forest litter and sometimes from local houses. Even the composition of the air pollution is depending on the way the smoke is created, for example by smouldering or flaming.

How to protect yourselves?

If you live close to a forest then ask your local authorities how you can help to protect the Earth’s lungs. If you happen to be near a wildfire/forest fire then remember to wear a N95 or N99 face mask. Don’t expose yourself in the smoke for a long time, even the face masks have a limit. If you live near an ongoing wildfire, close the windows and seal your house from the outdoor air. Stay away from your house for a few days, ask a family member who lives far away from the fire to host you.

Request

I can’t stand reading or watching on TV news regarding wildfires. The damage is huge especially when humans are responsable for them. My heart breaks every time. Please respect the environment. Thank you.

Nicholas and his incredible eyesight | Book

Sotirios PapathanasiouLeave a comment

I am proud to announce my second book “Nicholas and his incredible eyesight” which is my second attempt to raise awareness on air pollution and this time by educating the youth.

The book is for all kids, the story is full of lovely and colourful drawings and at the end of the book the kids will have the opportunity to do some fun activities.

Synopsis of the story

Nicholas is a Scottish boy who lives in a small beautiful town in Scotland. He has to move with his family to London for a while. There and with the help of his teacher he will discover his unique super power.

The book is available on digital and paperback formats through the following stores:

Layer 3Layer 5Layer 4

 

 

If you are interested in a (Limited Edition) HardCover copy of my new book, please Contact me or Tweet me for more details.

ISBN-13: 9788469752708

The Air in New York

Sotirios PapathanasiouLeave a comment

In my recent visit in New York and in other USA cities I decided to take with me a portable carbon monoxide device and measure the air quality across the cities during my trip.

The CO Sensor was placed on a net pocket that I had sewed on my backpack. I am quite the craftsman! The experiment had to be done correctly to ensure that the air flowed easily and the measurements were taken correctly and constantly.Read More »

Review: Cambridge Mask

Sotirios Papathanasiou7 Comments

This time I had the opportunity of getting a half face mask by Cambridge Mask Co. and of course I wrote with pleasure a review on my blog.

Characteristics

Cambridge Mask offers the N99 respirators (Not oil resistant), a three layer mask with a Military Grade Carbon Filter layer, and the Three-Ply Micro Particulate layer. An exhale valve is present as well to ensure that moist won’t build up.  These respirators also filter 99.6% of viruses and 99.77% of bacteria.Read More »

Exhaust Smoke Colours and Pollutants

Sotirios PapathanasiouLeave a comment

Did you know that cars emit smoke with a differnt colour depending the engine that they use and the problems that they are having. Here are the following categories: Blue smoke, White smoke and Black smoke.

Untitled

Blue Smoke

Blue smoke means your engine is burning oil. Oil is an important element in the engine, but only to lubricate the moving parts. When it is burnt by the engine means that there are leaking valve seals or worn piston rings or worn cylinder walls. In this case large quantities of Carbon monoxide CO, PMs, NO2 and SO2 are released into the environment.

White Smoke

There are two types of white smoke, the normal white vapor that disappears quickly under normal conditions due to condensation and the heavy white smoke. The heavy white smoke must concern you because the coolant has made its way into the combustion chamber. In this case large quantities of VOCs and PMs are released into the environment.

Black Smoke

Finally the black smoke indicates that your air/fuel mixture is running rich. Which means that more fuel is entering the engine and it doesn’t burn completely due to the lack of the air or oxygen. This is also called rich. When more air enters the engine than fuel this is called lean. In this case large quantities of CO, PMs and NO2 are released into the environment.

Conclusion

All in all, the emitted smoke from the exhaust may not tell you the exact problem, but it can give you an idea of what the problem of your engine is and the pollution that is emitted. Visit your mechanic immediately, public health may be in jeopardy.

Ozone O3 an Air Pollutant

Sotirios PapathanasiouLeave a comment

The Ozone O3 is protecting us through the Ozone Shield from the harmful ultraviolet UV radiation when it is in the lower portion of the stratosphere at 20km to 30km above Earth. However it is a harmful gas for the respiratory system and it can cause serious health issues when it is inhaled in high consecration.

As a result we divide the Ozone in two categories, the Ozone Shield aka Good Ozone and the Ground Level Ozone aka Bad Ozone. Basically the Ground level Ozone is formatted by a combination of gases and the Sunlight.

VOCs + NOx + Heat + Sunlight = Ozone

 Breathing ozone O3 can trigger a variety of health problems, particularly for children, the elderly, and people of all ages who have lung diseases such as asthma. Ground level Ozone can also have harmful effects on sensitive vegetation and ecosystems.

Read more about air pollutants inside my book See The Air

CO2 Candles Experiment

Sotirios PapathanasiouLeave a comment

CO2 Candles Experiment

In this experiment I will demonstrate how fast Carbon Dioxide CO2 rises inside a room by lighting two small candles.

bedroomday1_0000 copy

I chose my study room as it can be easily isolated, plus I have got all the AQI monitors inside this room for the purpose of the experiment. The room is 7.3m². The experiment is easy, I lit 2 candles and closed the door and window of the room. Then I waiting with myself inside the room till the CO2 reached 1200ppm. Basically I logged the time when the CO2 was 430ppm and when it reached the 1200ppm with and without the candles.

With the candles the CO2 needed 35 minutes to reach the 1200ppm limit as you can see on the graph below and without any candle and with exactly the same conditions as before the CO2 needed 59 minutes to reach the upper limit.

Conclusion

You gain 25 minutes of more oxygen and less CO2 until the room reaches the 1200ppm limit which means more productive time and fewer headaches.

Gray Slate

Candles and Incense sources of Indoor Air Pollution

Sotirios Papathanasiou5 Comments

Candles and Incense sources of Indoor Air Pollution

They look nice and they smell even better, but unfortunately most of them are made of toxic ingredients and when you light them, they diffuse all these toxic ingredients inside your house.

Harmful VOCs

Most commercial candles are full of toxic ingredients that many times they don’t even write on the package like Paraffin, Acetone, Trichlorofluoromethane, Carbon Disulfide, 2-Butanone, Trichloroethane, Trichloroethene, Carbon Tetrachloride, Tetrachloroethene, Chlorobenzene, Ethylbenzene, Styrene, Xylene, Phenol, Cresol and Cyclopentene. Most of them are VOCs and the majority of the AQI monitors with VOC sensor will recognize the toxins in the air. Now, when paraffin burned releases toluene and benzene which are highly toxic and carcinogens (these fumes are the same as when diesel is burnt).Read More »