When you have to work indoors in an office that has this kind of bad air for 8+ hours a day, no wonder that you get home with a headache and dizzy feeling. And get sick too often with cold, flu, sore throat, etc.
Two are the problems shown from the measurements of the AtmoTube portable air quality monitor (in the picture) that I bring along with me everywhere:
1. VOCs are “Volatile Organic Compounds”, meaning chemicals in the air. They are very high here, indicating that there is poor ventilation in the office. Especially during a COVID pandemic, this should not be happening. To lower the VOC’s (and CO2) you must open the windows.
2. The Particulate Matter is also very high, and to be breathing this amount daily is very unhealthy on the long term. But here is the problem, because in Athens and Greek cities in general, if you open the windows to aerate the office, then you end up with very dirty Air coming in from outside, especially in winter. But today the air outside is clean (very windy day) and the high Particulate Matter in our office is coming from cigaret smoke, not from outside. Yes, people still smoke inside their offices in Greece. And non-smokers still accept the fact…
Greek citizens are not taking serious measures against COVID, and it shows in the increasing daily cases that have reached 4500 yesterday. But they are not taking any measures against Air Pollution either, because no one cares to explain them the dangers of breathing such a bad Air every day.
And it has been found that COVID kills more in places with high Air Pollution, so instead of showing no interest in the issue, we all should be doing something to clean up the Air we breathe.
Thanks god I don’t have to stay at the office long. I go there and run away as quickly as possible. But this is not the solution to such a serious problem. The solution would be that people finally get informed, and act against Air Pollution. Measures to be taken are not so difficult. It’s just a matter of deciding to act.
CleanAir in Greece 