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Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
Just by breathing or wearing deodorant, you have more influence over your office space than you might think, a growing body of evidence shows. But could these basic acts of existence also be polluting the air in the office room where you work?
To find out, a team of engineers at Purdue University has been conducting one of the largest studies of its kind in the office spaces of a building rigged with thousands of sensors. The goal is to identify all types of indoor air contaminants and recommend ways to control them through how a building is designed and operated.
"If we want to provide better air quality for office workers to improve their productivity, it is important to first understand what's in the air and what factors influence the emissions and removal of pollutants," said Brandon Boor, an assistant professor of civil engineering with a courtesy appointment in environmental and ecological engineering.
The data is showing that people and ventilation systems greatly impact the chemistry of indoor air -- possibly more than anything else in an office space. The researchers will present their initial findings at the 2019 American Association for Aerosol Research Conference in Portland, Oregon, Oct. 14-18.
"The chemistry of indoor air is dynamic. It changes throughout the day based on outdoor conditions, how the ventilation system operates and occupancy patterns in the office," Boor said.
The building, called the Living Labs at Purdue's Ray W. Herrick Laboratories, uses an array of sensors to precisely monitor four open-plan office spaces and to track the flow of indoor and outdoor air through the ventilation system. The team developed a new technique to track occupancy by embedding temperature sensors in each desk chair.
Through use of the Living Labs, Boor's team has begun to identify previously unknown behaviors of chemicals called volatile organic compounds, such as how they are transformed in ventilation systems and removed by filters.
"We wanted to shed light on the behind-the-scenes role ventilation systems have on the air we breathe," Boor said.
-- submitted from IRC
(Score: 2) by choose another one on Thursday October 10 2019, @03:10PM (5 children)
It isn't an argument against them, it's just a statement and a supporting quote from the news.
It's relevant because it is them that seem to have the theory that deodorant is polluting, and are now doing research to "prove" it.
Meanwhile many people believe the opposite, that in fact lack of deodorant is polluting. We don't need any research to back this belief, just our own senses, the belief is in the same category as "if I jump off a tall building I will fall down", "shooting yourself in the head is a bad idea", "(my) God is good" and "Trump is a moron".
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 10 2019, @03:52PM (4 children)
I don't think deodorant is "polluting." But I do think that it's widespread use is a result, not of body odor, especially in a world where good personal hygiene (daily showers, clean clothes, etc.) is relatively easy, but of long-term exposure to advertising memes that tell you how bad you smell.
I'm in my fifties, and I think I used deodorant *twice* as a teenager and decided it was really disgusting.
Having worked in office environments for more than thirty years (and ensuring that I bathe/don clean clothes prior to entering such an environment), not once has there been an issue with "body odor."
If you are healthy and practice decent personal hygiene and wear clean clothes, body odor shouldn't be an issue.
If you do the latter and still have an issue, go see a doctor, as there's probably a medical issue.
I know a bunch of you will probably jump down my throat, but consider what people did *before* there was an "Arrid Extra Dry" or whatever chemical garbage you slather onto your body.
In fact, deodorant is a great example of just how successful negative marketing/advertising can be.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 11 2019, @08:25AM (1 child)
Slather other chemical garbage onto their bodies, like perfume? Or, just deal with the disgusting odor?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 11 2019, @12:19PM
Bathing regularly generally handles that without issue.
Those garbage products are in wide use because advertisers play on peoples' insecurities.
Apparently they played you well.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 11 2019, @09:20AM (1 child)
What's your weight? Fatties sweat a LOT more. America is now 72% obese or overweight or something.
You covered that with "healthy", but it might be the primary reason.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 11 2019, @12:42PM
That doesn't track with history. The huge spike in obesity started back to the 1980s [wikipedia.org], while deodorants had already been heavily marketed for decades [thoughtco.com] by then, with heavy market penetration long before the rise in obesity.
It's marketing/advertising playing on peoples' insecurity that *created* the market for deodorant, not some dire need. Especially when pretty much everyone has daily access to showers and soap and the ability to wear clean clothes *every* day.
As long as people practice good personal hygiene, even fat people don't smell bad.
Being morbidly obese is a different issue, and has much more serious consequences than body odor, although that's often an issue.
At the same time, those who are morbidly obese (unless there's some specific medical condition) are, in my experience, much less concerned with personal hygeine (that stems from both physiological and psychological conditions) than those who are fat/obese or in the normal range.
That's not a knock on the morbidly obese, just my observations.