Studies on heat tolerance and limit values have so far only been carried out in the laboratory. Now, for the first time, scientists at the University of Philadelphia have conducted an empirical study – on young male test subjects – to determine what temperature the limits for human health actually lie. The result: Our heat tolerance is significantly lower than expected!
CRITICAL VALUES FROM 25 DEGREES
Until now, it was assumed that a healthy person could not survive a temperature of 35°C at 100% humidity (equivalent to 46°C at 50% humidity) for much longer than 6 hours. Laut den Messungen sind die bisherigen Grenzwerte aber deutlich zu hoch. “None of the test subjects in the six different experiment variants reached the theoretical limit of 35 degrees; their values became critical well below that,” explained study leader Daniel Vecellio. The limit was already 31 degrees Celsius.
What was also interesting was that even when the humidity decreased to 50%, sweat production and tolerance did not increase as expected. Instead, the critical cooling limit temperature under these conditions was even 25 to 28 degrees.
Alarming facts. Please show one possible aspect of the excess mortality in Germany that has been linked to the summer heat for several years.
More information at: https://www.scinexx.de/news/biowissen/ist-unsere-wärmetolerant-geringer-als-gedacht/
EVERY DEGREE COUNTS
Every degree can make a difference in our heat tolerance, which is why cooling is so important for health. Heat stress affects older people in hospitals and nursing homes as well as those receiving care at home. But even the body’s own cooling system of young, healthy people is overwhelmed at over 40°C. Not to mention children, pregnant women, people with pre-existing conditions or with health risk factors such as diabetes, COPD or MS. Also the current WIDO Report “Climate and Health” by the AOK and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change confirm this.
So what can be done to protect the population in cities and municipalities from the effects of climate change?
Unfortunately, there is no medication and no vaccination against heat. This is why demands for simple but effective air conditioning measures are becoming increasingly urgent. National heat protection plans and adaptation strategies from experts are strongly called for. However, most recommendations, such as structural measures, are only effective in the medium and long term, are often expensive and sometimes difficult to implement. And outdoors, conventional air conditioning is not even possible.
There are no personnel available to carry out the tasks of heat protection in clinics, care or at home with drinking regimes or spraying. The idea of setting up cold rooms everywhere in cities is hardly logistically feasible. Spending hours or days in so-called cooling centers, i.e. cool public spaces, for example in air-conditioned shopping arcades and train stations, may also be an obvious idea, but not entirely practical – especially not overnight or for days. And what’s more, it’s ecologically and energy-politically questionable.
The air conditioning and cooling devices required for this require an enormous amount of energy and the CO2 emissions, together with the climate-damaging refrigerants used, increase global warming even further. Worldwide, CO2 emissions from air conditioning systems are already one gigaton per year and more than 8% of electrical energy is required for this. And the trend is upward. A vicious circle!
IMMEDIATELY AVAILABLE, PRACTICAL AND CLIMATE-FRIENDLY SOLUTIONS ARE THE NEED OF THE HOUR
This makes it all the more important to integrate simple, immediately available, practical and climate-neutral cooling options into the heat action plans of cities and municipalities.
E.COOLINE cooling textiles offer a simple and quick solution. In addition to structural measures, greenery, etc., they can be easily and flexibly integrated into heat action plans and used immediately. This has now been specifically adapted to heat emergency situations: In addition to cooling vests, actively cooling shirts, headgear, arm and leg cooling, and cooling duvets, there are now also heat emergency sets. These are quick and easy to use. A tap and a towel are enough to provide up to 8 hours of cooling directly on the body.
This saves over 90% CO2 and provides a simple and quick cooling option for vulnerable groups who particularly suffer from the heat. The cooling 3D technology used in all E.COOLINE products does not cause any additional energy costs and is partly made from waste fibers, is produced sustainably and is MADE IN GERMANY.
