Training in healthy air is important for athletes, and for the rest of us, too. According to an article in Nature Scientific Reports (Impact of Air Quality on Running Performance, 2023), air quality has a significant impact on race performance. Reducing PM2.5 particulates from 10µg/m3 to 5µg/m3 (both within the “Good” AQI, Air Quality Index, range) lowers 5000 meter race times by 12.8 seconds among collegiate racers*. An ozone decrease from 54.9ppb to 36.9ppb, both levels also within the AQI “Good” range, decreased a race times by 11.5 seconds.
In the 2024 Olympics, Kenyan runner, Beatrice Chebet won the 5000 m race Olympic gold medal with a time of 14 minutes and 28.56 seconds, only 1 second ahead of second place finisher, Faith Kipyegon, and 2 seconds ahead of third place finisher Siffan Hassan. Similarly, in the male division, Olympic gold medal winner Jakob Ingrebrigtsen’s time of 13 minutes and 13.66 seconds was less than 2 seconds ahead of second place finisher, Ronald Kwemoi and third place finisher Grant Fisher.
Every athlete works to find every advantage to reach peak performance. Improving the efficiency of their motions, carefully managing their diets, and continuous training are important. Healthy air training is essential, too.
334 NCAA Division 1 male athletes were tracked (pun intended) over a 4-year period, covering 143 races and 1104 race appearances by the athletes. An overwhelming amount of air quality data for training and races occurred in the Good AQI range (88% PM2.5 and 79% ozone training days were rated within the AQI Good range), with most of the remaining data in the AQI Moderate range (less than 1% of PM2.5 and ozone data were in the “unhealthy for sensitive groups” category).
The authors found an accumulating effect of air quality on performance over a 20-day training period prior to a race. Regardless of air quality at the race, training in poorer quality air for three weeks prior to the race diminished race performance. Similar to how sleep loss due to poor air quality can cause poor next day performance, training in poor air quality takes its toll beyond the time we are immersed in bad air.
*Note: at the time when the Nature paper was written, EPA’s “Good” AQI range for PM2.5 particulates was 0 to 12µg/m3. In May, 2024, EPA redefined “Good” to 0 to 9µg/m3.
We Can’t Smell Healthy Air
The late Professor Ole Fanger asked a simple question no one had asked before: is human productivity degraded by air quality that most humans find acceptable for breathing? That is, can humans smell healthy air? The answer is that we absolutely cannot!
Even though Professor Fanger did not have the equipment to monitor air quality, he was able to see the impacts of indoor air quality on human performance. Old carpet and drapes periodically placed on the opposite side of a partition significantly impacted work productivity. Although odors were undetectable, something released by the materials clearly degraded human performance.
Since Professor Fanger’s work, many more studies have quantified air quality’s negative impacts on workplace productivity, school performance, absenteeism, sleep, mental well-being, and cognition capabilities. Today’s more transportable, online sensors have greatly increased our ability to monitor an expanding range of conditions in our homes, schools, workplaces, houses of worship, transportation, and public gathering spaces. Evidence continues to show that today’s ventilation standards are not healthy. Your house may not smell, but without active air quality management, chances are great that air pollutant exposures are taking their toll.
We Don’t Understand How, but We Know What is Good
Sticking your finger in a light socket doesn’t teach someone how electricity works, but it does show that it is not a good idea to put your finger in a light socket. We are at the point in air quality research where we don’t understand how poor air quality impacts us, but we do have understanding of the impacts of air quality on our mental and physical health, and productivity.
Many possibilities exist and must be sorted out before we have some understanding of the physical and mental strains air pollutants impose on us. For example, inhaling ozone is harmful, but at lower concentration levels, is it ozone or is it a compounded effect? A human placed in a sealed chamber emits over 200 VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) chemicals at a rate of 2180mg/h per person (+/- 620mg/h per person). A moderate ozone concentration of 37ppb, similar to the lower ozone range studied in the cited paper, causes human VOC emissions to triple (over 6000mg/h per person) due to ozone reacting and volatizing skin oils (squalene).
The authors of the 5000m race performance paper found a compounding effect of ozone and PM2.5 particulates, perhaps indicating that low levels of each pollutant, well within the “Good” range, can additively produce air quality poor for athletic training. Perhaps a low level of ozone irritates the pulmonary system in a manner that allows a lower PM2.5 concentration to cause further irritation, or vice versa? We don’t know the answers to how air pollutants affect us, but we know we are affected by a variety of pollutants, and that maintaining air as fresh as Nature can provide is important for our health and well-being.
Maintaining Healthy Air Quality
Build Equinox’s healthy IAQ Standard is today’s most stringent indoor air quality standard. While our IAQ Standard is strict, it is attainable and practical. For example, our CO2 standard of 800ppm effectively doubles today’s fresh air ventilation rate from less than 20cfm per person to 40cfm per person.
We recommend “PM10” less than 10µg/m3 (all particulate mass up to 10-micron particles), which is more stringent than EPA’s new PM2.5 µg/m3 level (all particulate mass up to 2.5-micron particles). There is no safe level of particulates per Professor Caleb Finch’s observation. Professor Finch also describes the impact of poor air quality as accelerated aging, so if you want to stay as young, breath healthy air.
The cost for doubling today’s inadequate ventilation standards (ASHRAE 62.1/62.2) to a healthy air quality level without energy recovery in harsh climates is only 1 ½ cents per hour per person! Energy recovery is important, but not as important as our health and well-being. With CERV smart air quality management technologies, you can have your cake (excellent air quality) and improve your race times, too.
