HUMIDITY:
A SILENT ENEMY
Even if it is extremely common in any environment, humidity can only be noticed, usually, by its effects.
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BAD SMELL -
ALLERGIES -
MOLD AND MILDEW
WHICH IS THE IDEAL
RELATIVE HUMIDITY?
DIFFERENT FROM WHAT WE ARE ACCUSTOMED TO HEAR, THE BEST OPTION FOR HEALTH IS NOT HUMIDIFYING THE AIR,
BUT CONTROLLING HUMIDITY PURSUANT TO THE IDEAL LEVELS FOR HEALTH.
HUMIDITY CONTROL
HUMIDIFY
Our health is adversely affected every time the climate becomes too dry. In addition to respiratory problems, low humidity can cause headaches and irritation in the eyes, nose, throat, and skin, among others.
Humidifying is necessary to reach the ideal humidity levels in the room. More important, however, is controlling the humidity level, as excessive humidity causes countless problems as well. Air humidifiers usually do not provide this control.
DEHUMIDIFY
What many people are not aware of is that excessive humidity also causes several health problems and is as harmful as an extremely dry climate or more. Proliferation of fungi, bacteria, and mites causes the emergence of mold and allergies.
What many people are not aware of is that excessive humidity also causes several health problems and is as harmful as an extremely dry climate or more. Proliferation of fungi, bacteria, and mites causes the emergence of mold and allergies.
Why should I control relative humidity inside rooms?
Increased relative humidity also means increased mold, for example. Not only mold, but countless other fungi and microorganisms can proliferate quicker with higher humidity. When this occurs, health can be adversely affected. Fungi, as well as mites, cause respiratory attacks such as allergic rhinitis and asthma. For rhinitis, nasal congestion, itching eyes, and sneezes, which are often excessive, are common symptoms. People who suffer from rhinitis know what we are talking about. Those who have asthma, on their turn, suffer from symptoms as coughs, wheezing, and shortness of breath. Around 30% of the Brazilian population suffers from allergies as asthma and rhinitis, or from both of them. According to the specialist with a Master’s Degree in Allergies and President of the Brazilian Association of Allergy and Immunology of Paraná – ASBAI-PR, Dr. Loraine Landgraf: “Brazil is one of the countries that have the highest rates of prevalence of asthma and allergic rhinitis around the world, and rhinitis is the most common among chronic respiratory diseases”.
For people with respiratory diseases, the ideal is that humidity is between 50% and 60%, which is the percentage recommended by the World Health Organization – WHO. Levels other than these limits increase the risk of allergic respiratory infections. Maintaining humidity in these levels also accounts for better wellness for everyone, as well as preserves the goods in the room.
Whenever excessive humidity is verified, certain cares must be taken. One way to ease the problem is controlling the percentage of humidity, especially where there is accumulation of vapor (en suite rooms). Of course, in case of leakage due to pipeline rupture or even seepages, they may be repaired and a quick installation of an air dehumidifier thereafter may help recovering and maintaining the quality of the room and stopping humidity from causing troubles again.
Notably, worse than humidity are its consequences. A house with humidity problems is always subject to the emergence of mildew, mold (also bad smell), which, on their turn, lead to respiratory problems. The health of a family living in a house with excessive humidity may usually be severely threatened. Even when not everyone in the family suffers from respiratory diseases, the extended exposure to microorganisms may trigger allergic reactions even healthy people. Even in dry climates, as it happens during fall or winter, home environments usually have high levels of humidity, because we produce vapor within the house due to hot showers, cooking, etc. Unfortunately this is a fact to which many people are still unaware. This happens because media informs that humidifying air is the solution for respiratory diseases, without going deeper into the individual problem of each. If relative humidity is at the ideal level (between 50% and 60%), hydration to cushion coughing should occur within the body, in the upper parts, through inhalation of saline solution.
Inside a house, walls can be highly humid and lodge mites, fungi, and bacteria. In addition to the rooms closest to the kitchen and the bathroom, which are subject to humidity, these microorganisms may be present in kitchen cabinets damaging food, inside the wardrobe, in mattresses, pillows, carpets, curtains, stuffed animals, domestic dust, among other.
When temperature falls, in winter, for example, people spend more time in their houses with doors and windows closed due to cold, and do not acknowledge how much humidity they produce by: hot showering, cooking soups and broths, and putting wet clothes in the laundry room. Well, all of these common day-to-day activities can increase indoor humidity levels in up to 90%. And see, humidity, which is so desired outdoors, when indoors may become a great enemy.
Babies and newborns, when subject to these conditions, remain most of the time indoor and they are the ones who suffer the most with respiratory problems for not having their immune system (neither the respiratory system) fully developed. Air quality can play an essential role in these cases, for they are an essential element for life. And they are essential for a healthy life, as for children of this age, no treatment with medicine is recommended.
Fungi and mites, undesirable elements, on their turn, are huge causes of respiratory problems. Mites, undesirable elements, on their turn, are huge causes of respiratory problems.
So far we said respiratory problems may be triggered by humidity. But did you know that humidity increases the possibility to contract other respiratory tract diseases? Some of them are asthma and even pulmonary infections such as bronchitis. People who do not have them, may develop respiratory allergies caused by humidity and its consequences.
Reaching the ideal humidity levels requires control. The air dehumidifier checks and removes excessive humidity only, controlling relative humidity, retaining up to 90% of airborne particles, and ensuring, thus, more health and wellness for people.
Through its Desidrat Dehumidifier Line, Thermomatic provides high-technology solutions for any type of environment. Desidrat equipment, in addition to quality and design, provide health, wellness, and comfort. Desidrat has dehumidifiers for drawers, armoires, houses, companies, and industries. Each device is indicated according to the cubic size of the room (that can be calculated as: width x length x height) and its variables (example: people who live in the North and South regions of the country have more humidity in their houses due to the climate).