AC filters need to be replaced every 15 days

Experts highlight why people experience poor health when working indoors

If you are feeling sick every time you walk into your office, there is an explanation for it. Elie Abdullah (right), consultant of pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine at Mediclinic Welcare Hospital, explains that symptoms caused by indoor air pollution are common and can have a substantial impact on one’s health.

He said: “We have to remember that in modern industrialised countries, people spend more than 90 per cent of their lives indoors. A variety of factors associated with the environment and with the patient impact the symptoms, which may reflect new disorders, exacerbation of preexisting conditions and disorders caused by specific workplace exposures, such as occupational asthma.”

But, how severe are the symptoms? According to Abdullah, the severity of the diseases caused by indoor air pollution can range “from minor to severe”. The less severe forms include asthma and chapped skin. But it can get worse.

Abdullah said: “The more severe illnesses can be bad enough to require hospitalisation and can even be fatal in rare cases. These include hypersensitivity pneumonitis (inflammation of the walls of the alveoli in the lungs) or legionnaires’ disease (form of pneumonia).”

If a healthy person was exposed to high levels of indoor allergens, it might take weeks before he or she develops the symptoms. But a person with preexisting asthma will develop immediate symptoms upon exposure to an allergen. Abdullah said: “The long-term effects can be significant if the problem is not identified and mitigated.”

Suresh Venkataraman, a heating, ventilation and air conditioning technician based in Sharjah, recommends checking the indoor air-condtioning units filter every week in the summer months, whereas the main terminal and cables must be checked every 15 days. The filter also needs to be changed at this time. The most important thing is maintaining room temperature.

He said: “Some people keep it cooler, but the compressor can then get choked. If you keep the temperature at 17C constantly, the compressor will continuously run. When the outside temperature reaches 50C in the UAE, we need to be more careful as the compressor could get damaged. Maintaining ideal room temperature will cut off the compressor and allow it to rest for 10 to 15 minutes before restarting. This means it will run smoothly.”

There’s also a core filter in larger airconditioning units, which Venkataraman says needs to be changed annually. If none of the checks are done, dust and bacteria will form in the filter. Once it gets choked, the air will only circulate within the room with no proper ventilation.

Venkataraman said: “It will also cause a bad smell to form in the room and people will continuously be breathing stale air. When working properly, the filter recycles the air in the room, which is why it needs to changed every 15 days, maximum a month.”