Dehumidified environments

[blackalex1952]

An interesting article about the potential health effects of dehumidification in buildings. I use a separate storage area which is dehumidified, ie an under bench storage area. I have often thought about draught proofing the whole workshop and dehumidifying the whole area. This is new research here in this article. https://www.forbes.com/sites/leahbinder ... 7d263f1824
Cheers Ross

[Dave M]

Ross that is interesting. A Little counter intuitive as one would think a drier atmosphere would be healthier.

Here in the UK with a pretty consistent high humidity I aim for around 50 % RH or just below so I guess I am in the range seen as sensible.

I have thought about other possible effects of a dry working atmosphere, possible nasal problems being exacerbated etc. But if the research is right that small infectious particles are more mobile In a a dry environment then presumably so are small dust particles...?

Dave M

[blackalex1952]

40%RH is the level below which the problem occurs according to the research article. So at 45% we could assume that luthiers are not so affected. However, depending on the end use environment's RH I sometimes build as low as 35%. I also assume that most builders on this forum are working alone and not in large factories with multiple personnel. The factory environment, however, has another factor involved, that is the absentee factor due to the spread of diseases like the flu which means workers have the potential to be off sick, that would mean loss of productivity. I don't know about the dust particles, but I will hazard the guess that dry dust would be more susceptible to static electricity than dust with high moisture content.
Cheers! Ross