Using air conditioner (AC) has recently increased all over the world, as it provides instant protection from high heat and humidity especially in summer, and its use has also been associated with disease control and protection from the effect of outdoor pollution. However, it has many harmful effects on individuals. This is due to hydro fluorocarbons (HFCs) product which is found in the indoor environment of the dwelling which flow to the outdoor environment, causing global climate change. In addition, many air conditioning systems consume a large amount of electrical energy and are a fertile habitat for the growth and reproduction of microorganisms such as Legionella bacteria that can cause lung diseases, and Corona virus, which causes respiratory failure which might lead to death. Also, AC is considered a source of noise for residents and their neighbors in many cases.
The main objective of this study was to determine the relationship between usage practices and proper maintenance of home air conditioners and their relationship to symptoms of sick building syndrome (SBS) among a sample of housing units and their occupants in Alexandria city.
The research data were collected: the first part was the field study, a questioner was used to collect data from an accidental purposeful sample of 60 housing units occupants in Alexandria city, data were statistically analyzed using SPSS program (ver.25). The second part of the study was lab study: samples of dust accumulated on the AC filter, and Air coming out directly from AC, were collected (30) to isolate, identify and study bacteria and fungi.
Results indicated significant differences (0.01) between the average of Orthopedic symptoms according to usage practices of AC, the healthy symptoms were among the fair usage category and the worst were among the bad usage categories. Results also indicated that isolated bacteria and fungi species cause human diseases.
Research results showed that the accumulated dust on air conditioning filters contained significant numbers of bacterial and fungal species which could cause various human diseases such as pneumonia and other respiratory tract infections, irritation and asthmatic reactions to allergic inflammation, respiratory health implications, resulted from the indications of Bacillus sp., Staphylococcus sp. and Micrococcus sp. bacterial species. Allergic diseases such as allergic rhinitis and asthma, respiratory inflammation, and asthmatic diseases and breathing-related problems, skin allergies, constant sneezing, and red/watery eyes are resulted from the infections of Alternaria sp., Mucor sp. and Penicillium sp. fungal species.