The Effect of Humidity on Health

Frequent rainfall, high temperatures, and hot and humid weather makes people feel sultry and uncomfortable. High air humidity is a characteristic of the rainy season, and it is also the main factor that makes items moldy and uncomfortable. Regardless of temperature, how important is air humidity in our lives, and what impact does it have on human health?

First, let’s take a look at our respective families. There are many families with thermometers, while few have hygrometers on the walls (in fact, there are record sheets that sell temperature and humidity together on the market). This shows that the humidity problem in the home does not seem to have caused us enough awareness. In fact, proper humidity is no less important than temperature for humans.

Air humidity refers to the degree of air humidity, which can be expressed by relative humidity. Relative humidity refers to the percentage value of the actual water vapor density of the air and the saturated water vapor density at the same temperature.

Studies have shown that when the temperature is too high, the amount of pineal hormone secreted by the pineal gland in the human body is also large, so that the concentration of thyroxine and epinephrine in the body is relatively reduced, the cells will be "lazy", and people will become lazy. Will be listless, malaise. Working and living in a place with high humidity for a long time is also prone to damp arthritis; and it will speed up heat conduction by about 20 times, making people feel more cold and depressed. Due to the damage of the joint synovium and surrounding tissues of the affected part, arthritis patients have weakened ability to resist external stimuli, and cannot adapt to the drastic cooling, which makes the condition aggravate or sore.

Rainy day 1

In summer, when the humidity increases and the water vapor becomes saturated, it will inhibit the heat dissipation function of the human body. The air with high humidity is already full of water, so it is unable to absorb water anymore, so sweat has to accumulate on our skin and raise our body temperature. Constantly rising, and at the same time overloaded, make people feel very stuffy and irritable. Investigation and research also show that when the relative humidity is above 90%, 26°C will make people feel 31°C. If high temperature is accompanied by high humidity (such as before the arrival of thunderstorms in summer), heat stroke is also prone to occur. When the temperature and humidity reach a certain limit, the body's heat cannot be dissipated, and the body temperature will rise, so that it exceeds the heat resistance limit of the human body, and the person will die. Only when the air humidity is relatively low, the sweat evaporation rate will be faster, even if it is a little hotter, people will feel a kind of refreshment. However, when the humidity is too small, the evaporation speeds up, and the dry air can easily take away the moisture from the human body, making the skin dry and irritating the nasal mucosa. Therefore, when the dry and cold air invades in autumn and winter, if the humidity is too low, a large amount of moisture in the upper respiratory tract mucosa will be lost. People feel dry mouth, even throat swelling and sore, hoarse voice and nose bleeding, and induce colds, which can easily induce respiratory symptoms.

For example, in the same high temperature weather, it is often sweaty in the south, but not in the north. In fact, the temperature in the north is not low, and the human body is not sweat-free, just because the air humidity in the north is relatively low. Working and living in places with relatively high humidity (such as mountains and islands) for a long time, they are also prone to rheumatism, rheumatoid arthritis and other damp arthritis. However, if the humidity is too small, evaporation will speed up, and dry air will easily take away the body’s moisture, causing people’s skin to become dry and cracked. Mouth and nasal mucosa will be irritated. Symptoms such as thirst, dry cough, hoarseness and sore throat will occur, which can easily induce pharyngitis and trachea. Inflammation, pneumonia and other diseases. In addition, the low relative humidity leads to a decrease in the elasticity of human skin, accelerates skin aging, appearance of rough skin, cell shedding, etc., which reduces the skin's ability to resist germs to a certain extent. Too low relative humidity can also cause wood water loss, causing furniture or solid wood floors to deform, crack and damage; pianos, violins and other musical instruments with high humidity requirements cannot be used normally; cultural relics, archives and books are embrittled and deformed. Relative humidity is too high, and it is easy to cause mildew on indoor furniture, clothing, carpets and other fabrics, ironware rust, and short circuit of electronic devices; carpets and wallpapers generate static electricity, which can irritate the human body and even cause fires. One of the main reasons for the delicate and smooth skin of women in southern China is the high relative humidity in the south. Modern medicine has also confirmed that the air is too dry or humid, which is conducive to the reproduction and spread of some bacteria and germs. Scientists have determined that when the air humidity is higher than 65% or lower than 38%, the germs multiply and breed fastest; when the relative humidity is 45%-55%, the death rate of the germs is relatively high.