At a warm, dry room temperature, many families buy humidifiers. However, it has been suggested that the use of humidifiers can lead to respiratory illnesses such as "humidifier pneumonia".
In fact, rumors about humidifiers have always been endless, such as humidifiers can cause pneumonia, humidifiers are unhygienic, and frequent use will cause harm to the body...... So, what are the facts?
Humidifier pneumonia caused controversy
In 2011, a hospital in Seoul was diagnosed with a series of deaths from patients hospitalized with pulmonary fibrosis symptoms who had the same cause of death: acute lung disease of unknown cause. Because the deceased were all pregnant women, it caused a great deal of panic in Korean society.
Finally, the Disease Control Headquarters of the Ministry of Health and Welfare conducted a large-scale epidemiological investigation and ruled out the possibility of an epidemic virus, and in subsequent investigations and experiments, it was preliminarily determined that "humidifier disinfectants" were the culprits in the death of pregnant women suffering from unknown lung diseases.
News about humidifier pneumonia is also often on the hot search. For example, recently, Mr. Huang, a citizen of Huai'an, Jiangsu Province, often turned on the heater and humidifier in winter, causing him to have chest tightness, cough, and throat discomfort, and was diagnosed with pneumonia. The doctor pointed out that it may be caused by using a humidifier at home and not cleaning it regularly.
In fact, the existence of "humidifier pneumonia" is not the fault of the humidifier itself.
Liu Jun, chief physician of the Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine of Guangzhou First People's Hospital, said that improper use of air humidifiers and excessive environmental humidity caused by them are the main causes of "humidifier pneumonia".
He explained that if the air humidifier is not cleaned in time, the humidification time is too long, and the water source is not good, it will provide favorable conditions for the growth and reproduction of bacteria and viruses, and harmful microorganisms may cause respiratory diseases when they enter the human respiratory tract through the humidifier atomization.
What non-standard operations are the culprits?
Photo by Jia Qiong
Some people like to add tap water, vinegar or essential oils to the air humidifier, and some people like to leave the air humidifier on 24 hours a day. As everyone knows, these non-standard operations may cause respiratory diseases, which is what is called "humidifier pneumonia" in medicine.
Take the most common ultrasonic humidifiers, for example, the basic principle of these humidifiers is to rely on ultrasonic atomizers to "beat" the water into small droplets, and then blow them into the indoor air. When the ultrasonic humidifier is turned on, we can see that it is emitting a fairy breath that looks like smoke. When we use unclean water that contains germs, the germs can naturally spread into the air through the "white smoke" and eventually be inhaled.
In addition, many ultrasonic humidifier nebulizers are prone to dirt accumulation, which can also lead to the growth of germs if not cleaned and disinfected regularly, and the germ-carrying water mist generated by the humidifier will be inhaled by us after the humidifier is turned on.
When we use humidifiers, in addition to adding the main raw material water, some friends also like to "DIY", such as perfume, essential oil, vinegar, etc., and fungicide is also one of these "condiments". The fungicide is dissolved in water, and then sprayed into the air by humidifier atomization treatment, and after the human body absorbs, the epithelial cells of the lungs and bronchi will be stimulated, and over time, the cells will be damaged and then cause inflammation. In addition, the lungs are prone to fibrosis in the process of repairing the damage many times. This is also the culprit of the "humidifier disinfectant" mystery mentioned above.
Excessive humidity. Many germs are actually very afraid of dryness, and if the environment is very dry, their survival time will be greatly reduced, and it will be more difficult to infect us. But if the humidifier is always on, it will make the environment too humid, making it easier for germs to grow, survive longer, and have more chances of infecting us.
How to use humidifiers scientifically
It is best to use distilled or purified water. Tap water contains a variety of minerals, and the calcium and magnesium ions in it, combined with carbonate ions, to form a white powder that can clog the injection hole, reduce efficiency, and cause damage to the evaporator. Chloride ions and microorganisms may be blown into the air by water mist and cause pollution.
Therefore, if possible, it is best to use distilled or purified water to fill the humidifier, or boil the tap water to cool it and add it and ensure that the humidifier is changed every day.
Do not use for too long. In terms of human comfort, the humidity of the room is between 50% and 55%. Keeping it open for 24 hours can cause excessive humidity in the room, and the air with too high humidity is prone to bacteria and mold, which can cause so-called "humidifier pneumonia" if inhaled into the lungs.
When using a humidifier, it's best to pause every 2 hours to keep the indoor air circulating.
Clean the humidifier promptly. The water in the humidifier should be changed daily and the humidifier should be thoroughly cleaned every two weeks. If the humidifier is not kept clean and fresh, germs floating in the air with water vapor can be harmful to your health.
If the humidifier becomes sticky and slippery, it indicates that a biofilm has formed, and bacteria have grown, and the water needs to be changed quickly, cleaned and sterilized.
Avoid blowing straight on your face. Although humidifiers can improve indoor humidity, the aerosolized particles they emit can contain airborne dust and bacteria, which can have a negative impact on human health if inhaled into the lungs.
In order to ensure the humidification effect, the humidifier should be placed on a stable plane 0.5m~1.5m from the ground. It's best to keep the humidifier in a well-ventilated, well-lit place.
Don't add random "ingredients" to the humidifier. This refers to fungicides, indigo root, perfumes, essential oils, vinegar, and so on.
Biocides contain a variety of chemicals that can cause alveolar damage in humans when inhaled. Radix is a granule, which is generally absorbed through the digestive tract, and it can only be whimsical to work by breathing. Vinegar, essential oils, perfumes and other ingredients are atomized and inhaled into the lungs, which can easily induce allergic rhinitis or asthma.
However, there is no need to completely reject humidifiers, as long as you buy a regular product and operate it correctly according to the content on the manual, you don't need to worry about ensuring a comfortable environment.
(China Xiaokang Network, Comprehensive Guangming Network, Jiangsu News, Science Refutation of Rumors, Popular Science China, etc.)
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Source: China Xiaokang Network
Author: Fenghua
Review: Gong Zimo
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