How Air Conditioner Gets Contaminated

Air filters in the air conditioners help to keep the indoor air clean and filter out the smoke, pollen, mold and dander. They are even capable of providing an infection-free surrounding in the operation theaters and Intensive Care Units in hospitals.

Air conditioners tend to suck air through the air filters and this flow attracts impurities from the indoor atmosphere like air, dust and other particles onto the filter. Over time, the filter gets clogged with these particles and they restrict air flow, which in general reduces the ability of an air conditioner to cool the air. In such a condition, instead of purifying or filtering the air, the air conditioners become a source of pollen, dust particles and animal dander. These all could pose health problems to asthma and other patients allergic to animal dander and pollen. To prevent such an obnoxious condition, it is necessary to clean and change the filters frequently after a period of time and check for other problems with the appliance.

What Grows Inside The Air Conditioner

Several micro-organisms tend to grow in the moist and humid environment of the air conditioner.

The air conditioners suck air from the indoors to keep the indoor atmosphere clean and healthy. They trap all the dust particles, pollen and animal dander, but due to the presence of moisture and humidity, these factors lead to growth of microorganisms in the air conditioner and pose the risk of harmful microbial diseases to people in the near vicinity.

There are several microorganisms such as bacteria and mold, which grow in the humid and moist interior of the air conditioner. Clostridia, Streptococci, Staphylococci, Listeria and Legionella are some of the microorganisms that grow in an air conditioner and can cause harmful diseases and infections to people exposed to the cooled air.

Clostridia are not generally harmful but some selected species such as Clostridium perfringes can cause tissue death and gas gangrene. Streptoococcus pyogenes causes throat and other infections that could lead to pneumonia and meningitis. Staphylococci causes skin infections such as boils, pustules, and infections in bones, wounds and joints. Pregnant women, their fetus or the newborn babies living in a room with a contaminated air conditioner can get affected by Listeria monocytogenes. Bacillus anthracis causes anthrax, that results in open sores on the skin. Legionella pneumophila leads to life-threatening form of pneumonia.The U.S. National Library of Medicine says that all these survive and grow in moist environments such as refrigerators, large air conditioning systems and air coolers.

Molds are fungi, which break down dead materials and recycle or return the nutrients back to the environment. They travel through the air and are harmless when are present outdoors but dangerous when they grow in the house.

Molds do not affect all individuals, but patients allergic to molds can suffer from wheezing, stuffy or runny nose, rashes, hives, and itchy and watery eyes. They also affect the asthma patients and cause other respiratory problems.

Health Hazards Linked with Air Conditioner

Air conditioners cause health hazards not only in people suffering from breathing-related issues, but in perfectly normal people as well.

It is not just patients with allergies or breathing disorders who need to worry and be careful about their air conditioning, but the healthy and normal people too, who work in air conditioned rooms in their offices or those for whom air conditioners are the essential appliance in the house, may be also affected by an unclean air conditioner.

Some of the health issues caused by air conditioners are:

• Cold and Shivering: Sometimes, sitting in an air conditioned room for a long time can cause shivering. The people might also experience chronic headaches and fatigue. Some people who are not used to live under air conditioning for long experience mucous membrane irritation and breathing difficulties. It makes them more vulnerable to colds and flus.
• Dry and Rough Skin: For people with dry skin, sitting in an air conditioned room is not going to help their skin too much. Studies show how skin loses moisture when it is exposed to air conditioners for a long time. However, this can be solved by applying moisturizer repeatedly on the exposed parts of the body and drinking a lot of water.
• Worsening of Diseases: Central air conditioning system could enhance the effects of some diseases the person might already be suffering from. Air conditioning could possibly increase the symptoms of low blood pressure, arthritis and neuritis, that makes pain management more difficult.
• Intolerance To Heat: Spending long time in an air conditioned room makes people intolerant of hot, summer temperatures. When the body is spending more time in a colder environment, it cannot adapt to the higher temperature outside. This leads to increased heat-related diseases, strokes and deaths during summers.
• Breathing Problems: An uncleaned air conditioner contains colonies of harmful microorganisms inside them. In such situations, the air conditioner circulates air which is contaminated with harmful bacteria and molds. Living under such conditions leads to breathing in of the microorganisms, with resultant breathing disorders and other health issues. Cases of Legionnaire’s disease, that produces high fever and pneumonia, are caused due to contaminated or uncleaned air conditioners.
• Hearing Loss: Old air conditioning units can generate sounds to which men, women and children are exposed for a long time. This can lead to hearing loss of an individual. The molds coming from a dirty air conditioner can collect in the ear lobes and cause bleeding and irritation of in the ear of the person.
  

  Latest Publications and Research on Air Conditioner Health Hazards

• Environ Int 

  Investigation of the chemical components of ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) associated with in vitro cellular responses to oxidative stress and inflammation.

  Xu F, Shi X, Qiu X, Jiang X, Fang Y, Wang J, Hu D, Zhu T

  Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) poses a significant risk to human health worldwide, by promoting oxidative stress and inflammation; however, the compo … Read More

  Source: PubMed

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  Sci. Total Environ.

  Ambient fine particulate matter and hospital admissions for ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes and transient ischemic attack in 248 Chinese cities.

  Gu J, Shi Y, Chen N, Wang H, Chen T

  Few studies have investigated the acute effects of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) on the risk of stroke subtypes and transient ischemic attack (TIA) … Read More

  Source: PubMed

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  Sci. Total Environ.

  NaOH-induced formation of 3D flower-sphere BiOBr/Bi4O5Br2 with proper-oxygen vacancies via in-situ self-template phase transformation method for antibiotic photodegradation.

  Li P, Cao W, Zhu Y, Teng Q, Peng L, Jiang C, Feng C, Wang Y

  In this study, a novel 3D flower-sphere BiOBr/Bi4O5Br2 with proper-oxygen vacancies (OV) was successfully synthesized by using 3D BiOBr as a self-sacr … Read More

  Source: PubMed

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  Environ. Res.

  Air Quality Index and air quality awareness among adults in the United States.

  Mirabelli MC, Ebelt S, Damon SA

  Information about local air quality is reported across the United States using air quality alerts such as the Environmental Protection Agency’s Air Qu … Read More

  Source: PubMed

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  Environ. Res.

  Estimating health burden and economic loss attributable to short-term exposure to multiple air pollutants in China.

  Yao M, Wu G, Zhao X, Zhang J

  Existing studies focused on the evaluation of health burden of long-term exposure to air pollutants, whereas limited information is available on short … Read More

  Source: PubMed