“We spend nearly a third of our life in the bedroom environment, but the air quality in our sleeping environment is often overlooked,” said study author Dr. Asit Mishra of Eindhoven University of Technology.
“Imagine this - you are in a confined space and have limited ability to adjust the situation (since you are asleep) while you are possibly surrounded by pollutants,” he told Reuters Health by phone. “This is how things are in bed, covered under duvets or a blanket.”
On the first night of the study, 17 volunteers slept while the window or internal door were open. On the second night, this time the windows and internal door were closed. Meanwhile, Mishra and colleagues monitored the temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide levels and even background noise. In the study the participants were not allowed to drink any alcohol or caffeinated drinks because it could influence their sleep. And they also sleep alone leaving the furniture arrangement the same.
When the study was conducted, participants wore an armband to measure their sleep quality such as body temperature, heat flux, bed temperature and even the levels of the skin moisture. Moreover, each participant wore a sensor to count their movements while sleeping which includes indications of restlessness.
The study then concluded that if doors and windows were closed less background noise will hear however, the carbon dioxide levels is also too high.
On the other hand, if the environment is open, proper ventilation came in though, the humidity levels were just the same if the environment is close, according to the report in the journal Indoor Air.
In conclusion, both temperature of bed and skin are higher in closed environment than open environment. When the levels of carbon dioxide are low participants could sleep better.
“Opening an internal door can be a reasonably good alternative if you don’t want to open windows, either for noise concerns or security concerns,” Mishra said.
On the other side, while the study was conducted the motion sensor often slipped off the sleepers at night.
“Sleep quality is affected by many factors, such as health and emotional states, bedding conditions and different environmental conditions, including noise levels and temperature,” said Dr. Nuno Canha of the University of Lisbon in Portugal.
Canha was not involved in this study yet, he had done a research about indoor air quality and sleeping in different ventilation patterns. He is also a member of LIFE Index-Air, a European research group that studies about pollutants and the exposure of human beings on it.
Recently, Canha and colleagues conducted a study and found out that when doors and windows were closed while sleeping, carbon dioxide levels were higher same with carbon monoxide and other substances such as formaldehyde.
“Sleep is essential to our life in several areas: health, well-being and productivity,” Canha told Reuters Health by email. “The exposure we are under while asleep is continuous . . . and we should play it safe in order to breathe better air during sleep.”
Source:
Reuters
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