FRESH AIR
Air is an invisible, tasteless, odorless mixture of gases surrounding the earth. Air at sea level is composed of 21% oxygen, 78% nitrogen, 1% water vapor, carbon dioxide and traces of ammonia, argon, helium, and other rare gases. Experiments have shown that death will occur from prolonged inhalation of air, in which the proportion of oxygen is much greater than that in which it naturally occurs in the atmosphere. Therefore, we know that the mixture called air is not an accidental compound, but one perfectly adapted by our Creator to the needs of the human body.
The first need of all living creatures on this earth is oxygen. They can not live without it. Oxygen must always be present in the air we breathe. All of the trillions of cells in the human body must receive a constant supply of oxygen or those cells will weaken and die. Through the tissue fluids the cell obtains the oxygen it needs and gives up the carbon dioxide it does not need. This transportation of oxygen from the outside air to the tissue cells, and the carrying away of carbon dioxide is done through our lungs. Our lungs are light and spongy in texture. If placed in water, they will float. Normally we breathe about fifteen times a minute, inhaling about a pint of air each time we take a breath. The lungs normally hold about six pints of air, so that about one sixth of the air is exchanged each time we take a breath. A person sleeping uses only about 10% of his lung capacity. Hard work increases lung use to about 50%. The singer or woodwind player uses his lungs almost to the fullest extent possible. (1)
AIR IS ELECTRICALLY CHARGED
Negatively charged air has been shown to decrease the respiration rate and lower blood pressure, while positively charged air does just the opposite. One group of researchers reported that patients who had high blood pressure and breathed negatively charged air had an average drop of 39mmHg in systolic blood pressure. (2) Negatively charged air (the good kind) is found in abundance at the ocean, in the mountains, at the foot of a waterfall or by a river or stream. All outside air has a large amount of negative ions. This is why we feel so good when we go camping or to the ocean. Or, if one is fatigued, a short walk outside in the fresh air will liven up the whole body. There are over 3-4 thousand negative ions in one cubic centimeter of mountain air, but only 100 negative ions in one cubic centimeter of air in an office building at the end of an eight hour day. Enclosed buildings have mostly positively charged ions which are harmful to health. All electrical appliances, air conditioning units, etc. use up the good negative ions and give off positive ions. All the air we exhale is positively charged; that's why a person gets drowsy after sitting for a long time in a closed room that is full of people.
The Lungs Give Off Positively Charged Poisonous Gases
Our skin also needs pure fresh air. The skin has mil ions of minute openings known as pores. One of the functions of these pores is to breathe in the fresh air. If we covered the skin of a person with a material like paint and closed these pores up, the person would suffocate in a short time.
An old army surgeon who had charge of large hospitals during the war related a very interesting experience illustrating the importance of giving the sick, especially persons suffering with fever, and abundance of pure air. He said that in a large hospital he had at one time 320 cases of measles during the winter season. The hospital caught fire and burned to the ground and the patients had to be placed in tents. All but one or two recovered. He said he had no doubt but that the number of deaths would have been thirty or forty at least, had the patients remained in the hospital.
One would never think of eating food some other person had chewed, yet we don’t realize how breathing enclosed, foul air over and over again will poison the blood stream and injure the lungs. To enjoy good health our homes should have plenty of ventilation (windows opened winter and summer). With our modern, sealed homes and air conditioning units re-circulating a large percentage of the impure indoor air, we are starving our lungs of pure, fresh air. The oxygen the body obtains from the air is very important in maintaining good health. Without the abundance of pure fresh air, the important work of normalizing the blood chemistry could not be successfully performed and the individual would suffer serious consequences.
“Scientific evidence shows that the indoor air can be more seriously polluted than what’s out of the window, even in the largest and most industrial cities,” says Dave Ryan, an air pollution expert and spokesman for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in Washington D.C.
FRESH AIR CRISES IN BUILDINGS
In the 1970's around the time of the energy crisis and the resulting trend toward conservation, many of the buildings built, were to be so-called energy efficient. New homes and offices were built with fewer windows. Sealing buildings to make them energy efficient became the norm, leaving occupants dependent on mechanical systems rather than open windows for fresh negatively charged outside air and ventilation.
In large office buildings the problems are much worse. One Environmental Protection Agency study of indoor air quality in various public buildings found a typical air sample contained 100 to 200 different chemicals at levels that were much higher indoors than outside. Some of those chemicals were paints, adhesives, caulking, vinyl, telephone cables, printed documents, furniture, various solvents, formaldehyde, etc. Many dangerous biological agents such as viruses, bacteria, fungal spores, algae, pollen, mold, etc. are also found. These biological agents can cause many allergic reactions. Legionnaire's Disease and severe respiratory problems are also caused from these biological agents. By inhaling this impure air, the blood is poisoned, the lungs become affected, and the whole system is diseased.
A clear connection between poor building ventilation and disease was made in a four-year study published in 1988, the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Washington D. C tracked the respiratory health of recruits at four separate army training centers. The study was notable because the subjects were a highly controlled group. They were drawn randomly from all over the country; they all received identical immunizations during processing; the soldiers in one barracks tended not to have contact with those in another; and at each camp the soldiers did the same activities outdoors, under the same conditions. Indoors, however, some subjects lived in energy-efficient barracks; and some lived in open window barracks. At each camp the incidence of acute respiratory disease was at least 45% higher in the energy-efficient barracks.
Air conditioning units just take the impure positively charged air from the room, cool it down, add a very small amount of outside air with it and re-circulate this impure positively charged, germ-laden air right back into the room again. And people wonder why they don't feel good after being inside all day long! Our forefathers didn't have air conditioners; instead they had large ceilings with tall windows that opened from top and bottom, and ceiling fans to help keep them cool in the summer.