<story><title>Scientist says cleaning indoor air could make us healthier and smarter</title><url>https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/08/scientist-says-cleaning-indoor-air-could-make-us-healthier-and-smarter</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>dperfect</author><text>I&amp;#x27;m all for cleaner air (especially reducing dangerous gases and pollutants), but at what point does the over-sterilization of our environment (specifically with regard to microbes) do more harm than good? People in my family suffer from various allergies, and many suspect there may be at least some link to &lt;i&gt;not&lt;/i&gt; being exposed to enough allergens at an early age (father was a surgeon and our home was always clean – nearly to the level of an O.R.).</text></item><item><author>mensetmanusman</author><text>I’ve been harping on this since learning covid was aerosol based early 2020.&lt;p&gt;I like to tell new parents a trick that worked well for us: use a nice filter-based air purifier for white noise. It has deep bass, and it keeps the air near the child extremely clean. We have been doing this for our kids for almost 10 years now since birth.&lt;p&gt;A fun experiment for kids: if you have a laser pointer, shine it close to the ground indoors and kick up dust near the floor. If you see any light in the air, that is all stuff you are breathing in (works really well on carpet)…&lt;p&gt;Air quality associated with:&lt;p&gt;Alzheimers: &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.scientificamerican.com&amp;#x2F;article&amp;#x2F;the-new-alzheimers-air-pollution-link&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.scientificamerican.com&amp;#x2F;article&amp;#x2F;the-new-alzheimer...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;Cancers, plural: &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.aacr.org&amp;#x2F;patients-caregivers&amp;#x2F;progress-against-cancer&amp;#x2F;air-pollution-associated-cancer&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.aacr.org&amp;#x2F;patients-caregivers&amp;#x2F;progress-against-ca...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sperm Quality: &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov&amp;#x2F;pmc&amp;#x2F;articles&amp;#x2F;PMC4443398&amp;#x2F;#sec99552title&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov&amp;#x2F;pmc&amp;#x2F;articles&amp;#x2F;PMC4443398&amp;#x2F;#sec995...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;Female Fertility: &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.newscientist.com&amp;#x2F;article&amp;#x2F;2207560-exposure-to-air-pollution-seems-to-negatively-affect-womens-fertility&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.newscientist.com&amp;#x2F;article&amp;#x2F;2207560-exposure-to-air...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;Autism: &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.sciencealert.com&amp;#x2F;particulate-matter-in-air-pollution-raises-autism-risks-in-the-first-few-years&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.sciencealert.com&amp;#x2F;particulate-matter-in-air-pollu...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;Bipolar&amp;#x2F;Depression: &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.nationalgeographic.com&amp;#x2F;environment&amp;#x2F;article&amp;#x2F;air-pollution-linked-to-bipolar-disorder-depression&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.nationalgeographic.com&amp;#x2F;environment&amp;#x2F;article&amp;#x2F;air-p...&lt;/a&gt;</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>mensetmanusman</author><text>It’s not just about the #’s. There is a huge difference between indoor air composition (which humans haven’t evolved for millions of years to account for) and outdoor air composition for the same, say, PM2.5 metric. E.g. indoor air might be mostly dead skin and dust mites, outdoor air might be mostly burned ash and bacteria, etc.&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately, the fact is that most people are now spending  something like 20 hours a day inside… there is no easy answer. I sometimes wonder how much the sterilization hypothesis is wrapped up in the effect of prolonged indoor air exposure.</text></comment>
<story><title>Scientist says cleaning indoor air could make us healthier and smarter</title><url>https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/08/scientist-says-cleaning-indoor-air-could-make-us-healthier-and-smarter</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>dperfect</author><text>I&amp;#x27;m all for cleaner air (especially reducing dangerous gases and pollutants), but at what point does the over-sterilization of our environment (specifically with regard to microbes) do more harm than good? People in my family suffer from various allergies, and many suspect there may be at least some link to &lt;i&gt;not&lt;/i&gt; being exposed to enough allergens at an early age (father was a surgeon and our home was always clean – nearly to the level of an O.R.).</text></item><item><author>mensetmanusman</author><text>I’ve been harping on this since learning covid was aerosol based early 2020.&lt;p&gt;I like to tell new parents a trick that worked well for us: use a nice filter-based air purifier for white noise. It has deep bass, and it keeps the air near the child extremely clean. We have been doing this for our kids for almost 10 years now since birth.&lt;p&gt;A fun experiment for kids: if you have a laser pointer, shine it close to the ground indoors and kick up dust near the floor. If you see any light in the air, that is all stuff you are breathing in (works really well on carpet)…&lt;p&gt;Air quality associated with:&lt;p&gt;Alzheimers: &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.scientificamerican.com&amp;#x2F;article&amp;#x2F;the-new-alzheimers-air-pollution-link&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.scientificamerican.com&amp;#x2F;article&amp;#x2F;the-new-alzheimer...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;Cancers, plural: &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.aacr.org&amp;#x2F;patients-caregivers&amp;#x2F;progress-against-cancer&amp;#x2F;air-pollution-associated-cancer&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.aacr.org&amp;#x2F;patients-caregivers&amp;#x2F;progress-against-ca...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sperm Quality: &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov&amp;#x2F;pmc&amp;#x2F;articles&amp;#x2F;PMC4443398&amp;#x2F;#sec99552title&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov&amp;#x2F;pmc&amp;#x2F;articles&amp;#x2F;PMC4443398&amp;#x2F;#sec995...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;Female Fertility: &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.newscientist.com&amp;#x2F;article&amp;#x2F;2207560-exposure-to-air-pollution-seems-to-negatively-affect-womens-fertility&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.newscientist.com&amp;#x2F;article&amp;#x2F;2207560-exposure-to-air...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;Autism: &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.sciencealert.com&amp;#x2F;particulate-matter-in-air-pollution-raises-autism-risks-in-the-first-few-years&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.sciencealert.com&amp;#x2F;particulate-matter-in-air-pollu...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;Bipolar&amp;#x2F;Depression: &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.nationalgeographic.com&amp;#x2F;environment&amp;#x2F;article&amp;#x2F;air-pollution-linked-to-bipolar-disorder-depression&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.nationalgeographic.com&amp;#x2F;environment&amp;#x2F;article&amp;#x2F;air-p...&lt;/a&gt;</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>gpm</author><text>The particulate matter that I worry about isn&amp;#x27;t microbes, it&amp;#x27;s all the crap that we&amp;#x27;re creating and putting into our environment with things like power generation and vehicles, which makes up the majority of the small particulate matter.&lt;p&gt;Sorry for the crappy source, but I&amp;#x27;m short on time right now to find you a better one: &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;laqm.defra.gov.uk&amp;#x2F;public-health&amp;#x2F;pm25.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;laqm.defra.gov.uk&amp;#x2F;public-health&amp;#x2F;pm25.html&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>