New research shows high physical emissions during workouts, amplified by chemical reactions on cleaners

New research shows high physical emissions during workouts, amplified by chemical reactions on cleaners

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University of Colorado Boulder Cheerleaders Practice

Boulder cheerleaders from the University of Colorado work at the Dal Ward Athletics Center in 2018. Credit: Katie Weeman / CIRES

One sweaty, huffing, exercising person releases as many chemicals from their body as up to five seated people, according to a new study from Boulder of the University of Colorado. And especially the emissions of people, including

Amino acids are a set of organic compounds used to build proteins. There are about 500 known amino acids that occur naturally, although only 20 occur in the genetic code. Proteins consist of one or more chains of amino acids called polypeptides. The sequence of the amino acid chain folds the polypeptide into a form that is biologically active. The amino acid sequences of proteins are encoded in the genes. Nine proteinogenic amino acids are called ‘essential’ for humans, because they cannot be produced by other human bodies from other compounds and must therefore be taken up as food.

“class =” glossaryLink “> aminosure of sweat or acetone from breath, it combines chemically with bleach cleaners to form new chemicals in the air with unknown impact on indoor air quality.

“Humans are a major source of indoor emissions,” said Zachary Finewax, CIRES research scientist and lead author of the new study in the current issue of. Binnelug. “And chemicals in indoor air, whether from our body or cleaning products, not only disappear; they linger and wander around in spaces like gyms and react to other chemicals.”

In 2018, the CU Boulder team set up a weight room in the Dal Ward Athletics Center – a campus facility for college student-athletes, from weightlifters to cheerleaders – with a range of equipment for air samples. Instruments collected data from both the weight room and supply air, measuring a range of air chemicals in real time before, during, and after CU athletes’ workouts. The team found that the athletes’ bodies produced 3-5 times the emissions while working out, compared to when they were at rest.

‘Using our modern equipment, it was the first time that indoor analysis was done in a gym with this high level of sophistication. We were able to capture the emissions in real time to see exactly how many chemicals the athletes emit and at what rate, ”said Demetrios Pagonis, postdoctoral researcher at CIRES and co-author of the new work.

Many gym facilities regularly use chlorine bleach products to disinfect sweaty equipment. And while these cleaning products work to kill surface bacteria – they also combine with emissions of sweat – they blend to form a new cocktail of chemicals.

The team was the first to observe a chemical group called N-chloroaldimines – a reaction product of bleach with amino acids – in gym air. This means that chlorine from bleach sprayed on equipment reacts to the amino acids released from sweat bodies, the authors report.

And while more research is needed to determine what impact this may have on indoor air quality, chemically similar reaction products of ammonia with bleach can be harmful to human health.

“Since people spend about 90 percent of our time indoors, it is critical that we understand how chemicals behave in the spaces we inhabit,” said Joost de Gouw, CIRES Fellow, Professor of Chemistry at CU Boulder and corresponding author on the page said. Although the researchers collected all the data for the pre-pandemic, the team says that their results illustrate that a modern gym with low occupancy and good ventilation can still be relatively safe for a workout, especially if masks are used.

Reference: “Quantification and Source Characterization of Volatile Organic Compounds from the Use and Use of Chlorine-Based Cleaning Products in a University Athletic Center” by Zachary Finewax, Demetrios Pagonis, Megan S. Claflin, Anne V. Handschy, Wyatt L. Brown, Olivia Jenks, Benjamin A. Nault, Douglas A. Day, Brian M. Lerner, Jose L. Jimenez, Paul J. Ziemann and Joost A. de Gouw, 18 December 2020, Binnelug.
DOI: 10.1111 / ina.12781

“Quantification and source characterization of volatile organic compounds using chlorine-based cleaners in a university athletics center” published in Wiley’s Indoor Air on December 18, 2020. Authors include: Zachary Finewax (CIRES, CU Boulder Chemistry), Demetrios Pagonis (CIRES, CIRES Boulder Chemistry), Megan S. Claflin (Aerodyne Research), Anne V. Handschy (CIRES, CU Boulder Chemistry), Wyatt L. Brown (CIRES, CU Boulder Chemistry), Olivia Jenks (CIRES, CU Boulder Chemistry), Benjamin A. Nault (CIRES, CU Boulder Chemistry), Douglas A. Day (CIRES, CU Boulder Chemistry), Brian M. Lerner (Aerodyne Research), Jose L. Jimenez (CIRES, CU Boulder Chemistry), Paul J. Ziemann (CIRES, CU Boulder Chemistry), Joost A. de Gouw (CIRES, CU Boulder Chemistry).

The authors gratefully acknowledge the Sloan Foundation for funding the measurements and instruments used in this study, and the CU Boulder Dal Ward Athletic Center for using their facilities to collect all data for this work.

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