Carbon dioxide and contamination have been talked about recently, but interested people quickly came up with a detailed guide on the dangers of masks. They believe that if we breathe carbon dioxide into the mask, then it gets stuck there and so increases the risk of contracting the virus.
This is nonsense. What really matters is not the level of carbon dioxide under the mask, but the level of carbon dioxide in the room around us.
The carbon dioxide that we exhale into the mask, it freely flies back and forth, without lingering anywhere. If the gas was trapped by such a material, then instead of rubber balloons for the holidays, empty bags of potatoes could be inflated with helium. But it doesn't work that way. The tissue does not retain gas.
Carbon dioxide in ambient air
This is a separate story. Indeed, if the level of carbon dioxide in a public place doubles, then the risk of contracting a virus will also approximately double.
And it's not about the harmful effects of carbon dioxide on our lungs, but about the overall level of ventilation.
You and I are constantly breathing out carbon dioxide. Outdoors, carbon dioxide concentrations are typically around 400 ppm.
There is not always sufficient ventilation in the room, and therefore carbon dioxide accumulates in an enclosed space. Usually, if the level of carbon dioxide in the room is not higher than 1000 ppm, then we can handle it. If the concentration is higher, then our performance will decrease.
Ventilation
If people are constantly in the room, then by measuring the level of carbon dioxide, one can roughly estimate the ventilation of the room itself. That is, people continuously exhale carbon dioxide, and the air from the ventilation continuously dilutes this carbon dioxide and carries it into the hood. If the hood stops working, the carbon dioxide level rises.
I have a carbon dioxide level indicator at home. A pocket-sized thing that connects to a computer. Even though I have powerful ventilation, my carbon dioxide levels are constantly fluctuating and approaching 800 ppm. That is, it is not easy to maintain normal ventilation.
It is clear that, in addition to carbon dioxide, ventilation carries away a bunch of other pollutants: volatile organic matter, the smallest dust particles and various infections.
If you really want to, you can get yourself a device in addition to a carbon dioxide indicator, determining the amount of harmful particles in the air in the range of 2.5 micrometers or some formaldehyde.
The amount of particles in the air rather indicates the purity of the air flying in from the street.
Volatile organic matter (VOC) refers to ventilation without people. That is, if there are no people in the room, then there is no one to breathe out carbon dioxide, and it may seem that the ventilation is good. In fact, in such a room there can be poor air exchange and a lot of all kinds of chemicals in the air. The VOC level indicator will show how much of this nasty stuff is coming out of the furniture, and how well the ventilation is pulling it out.
Viruses
Now about the infection. Together with carbon dioxide, people can breathe out droplets with viruses. If there is a lot of carbon dioxide, then there is a high probability that there will be a lot of viruses in the air as well. This is how carbon dioxide is associated with viruses. It's not just harmful to just breathe in carbon dioxide, but rather to have poor ventilation, in which a cloud of infectious aerosol will hit you.
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