Side Effects of AC: Unraveling The Spine Chilling Truth

Ganesh S E -

There are people who can’t imagine themselves without an Air Conditioner in the summer season. While it is cent percent true that ACs have made scorching summers bearable, there’s a hidden side to them that most are unfortunately unaware of.

While the full scope of the negative impact ACs have on us is unknown, here are some known issues that can be associated with AC use.

Dry Air

ACs reduce humidity, while it is not necessarily bad to lower humidity, prolonged exposure to dry air is a major cause for concern. You will think that you have been underestimating Dry Air all this while, once you finish reading what’s to come.

Exposure to dry air irritates the airways, other than worsening the symptoms of respiratory conditions like Asthma, Sinusitis, and Bronchitis, it can cause nasal congestion, cough, and even nosebleeds.

The reduced moisture in the air also affects your throat, causing inflammation, irritation, and pain. It also decreases the moisture in your skin, which makes it dry, itchy, rough, and less elastic. In addition to this, dry air affects your eyes too, it makes them drier and irritable. Your lips are no exception to this, they get chapped and cracked when they lose moisture.

Dust and Allergens

Not maintaining your Air Conditioner properly will not only lead to dust buildup but also that very dust to be circulated throughout your home. You will be breathing these dust and allergen particles giving your lungs a good taste of how your doormat tastes like. This can trigger allergies, and cause respiratory problems. 

Effects on the Human Body

Other than the previously mentioned health conditions caused by dry air, dust, and allergens, here are some other additional health conditions caused by ACs.

Legionnaires' disease

If the AC is not maintained properly, bacteria can start growing in the system, especially in larger systems. One such bacteria is Legionella, which spreads through water droplets and causes lung inflammation in the infected.

Lethargy

Setting the Air Con at low temperatures can cause your body temperature to drop, thereby making you more lethargic. This might not necessarily happen to everyone, but there are people who have experienced this.

Dehydration

The lowered humidity levels caused by ACs make you lose moisture much faster than usual. Due to the low temperatures, your body’s thirst signals are numbed, this means- you won’t feel thirsty even when your body needs water. You usually feel thirsty when you lose water through sweat, but no average human sweats while in an Air-conditioned environment. This is why the thirst levels go dangerously low when your body is exposed to an AC. Now your body’s moisture is being removed by the AC’s dry air, and you don’t feel the need to hydrate because you are not thirsty, this is the perfect recipe for dehydration.

I don’t think I need to stress the importance of hydration. Dehydration can cause a host of problems ranging from headaches to kidney stones.

Reduced Heat Tolerance

According to research, getting acclimated to an air-conditioned space will have adverse effects on your body when you are exposed to the actual temperature. Since you get used to low temperatures, your body’s tolerance towards higher temperatures decreases.

Sickness Building Syndrome

This is a condition in which the affected people are afflicted with illness and chronic diseases because of the building they reside or work in. This is not a single diagnosable health issue but a set of conditions affecting individuals because of them spending time in a certain environment. The so called environment in question causes Sickness Building Syndrome(SBS) due to various factors, of which ventilation, temperature, and humidity play a crucial role. All three of these factors are dependent on the air conditioner.

SBS can cause various symptoms like headache, irritation in the eyes, nose, and throat, cough, dry and itchy skin, fatigue, dizziness, nausea, and reduced cognitive ability.

Here's an excerpt from a research paper on the National Library of Medicine-

ACs have a profound effect on the quality of the air we breathe and on human health than just lowering the temperature. There is a higher prevalence of SBS-Respiratory and allergic symptoms in AC users.

The intent of this article was not to show Air Conditioners in a bad light, but instead, to bring to light their other, often, unknown side. Everything has two sides to it, you just have to know if the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Most of the negative effects of using an Air Conditioner can be mitigated by properly installing and maintaining them.