How does one begin a story that is so incredible and far-reaching it could profoundly impact people, much like my own?

It seems almost incomprehensible to me that two individuals could coincidentally make a discovery that might offer an explanation for numerous chronic diseases prevalent in our modern society. As if that weren't astonishing enough, I find myself wondering:

Could it really be that phenomena such as Long-Covid, burnout, chronic fatigue, depression, influenza, anorexia, obesity, ADHD, diabetes, herniated discs, memory disorders, speeding, and many more are solely caused by improper ventilation of rooms?

Science and medicine have been researching these areas for a long time. It should have been noticed by now. Yet, the more research reports I read and the more I talk to doctors, the more convinced I become that it has escaped everyone's attention.

During our journey through Poland, Germany, and the USA, which I embarked on with my wife, we were horrified to find that our suspicions were increasingly confirmed with every conversation and observation.

It is not just general air pollution making people sick, but primarily the incorrect way of ventilating.

That this could happen all over the world without being noticed is almost beyond my belief. Yet, gradually, I am recognizing the problems. Everyone is so focused on global health and its solutions that the most obvious is overlooked.

We are all poisoning ourselves with CO2 in indoor spaces.

Although it is known that even 1000 ppm of CO2 in the air we breathe can have serious health effects, governments set the recommended indoor limit at 1000 ppm—a level at which the majority of people are already affected.

Moreover, science relies on studies claiming that 1000 ppm is rarely exceeded in indoor environments, even without ventilation. Unfortunately, these studies are often decades old and were conducted in buildings whose airtightness is hardly comparable to today’s construction methods.

As if that weren't bad enough, I had to read on the website of the German Federal Environmental Agency that humans supposedly suffered no damage after a 20-minute exposure to 75,000 ppm CO2. In reality, a concentration of 50,000 ppm CO2 is toxic, and 100,000 ppm can be fatal within seconds.

How can this be? Why does this study deviate so much from reality? After some research, my wife found the explanation: The Environmental Agency misinterpreted the studies, confusing the CO2 concentration in the blood, which was given in percent, with the CO2 concentration in the breathing air and arbitrarily converted it into ppm. Even worse, most of the 75 studies the Environmental Agency relies on to assess indoor air quality are outdated and did not aim to evaluate room air quality. For instance, one study dealt with the influence of floor covering on room air, not with the achievable CO2 content in indoor spaces.

Despite these misinterpretations, I initially thought it couldn't be that the majority of people ventilate so incorrectly. But here too, my worst fears were confirmed.

The effects were most evident to my wife and me in Florida.

We drove across the state and observed the same phenomenon everywhere. People wrapped in thick jackets and wool gloves, standing next to a heater in the sun at 23 degrees Celsius (over 75 degrees Fahrenheit), feeling cold, while others were in shorts and T-shirts. However, since our last visit to the USA before the pandemic, things have changed. Now, comparatively few people are dressed for summer. Most are freezing and heavily bundled up.

Driving through residential neighborhoods, we noticed that hardly any people were seen on the streets. Most arrive home by car from work, enter their houses with all windows and doors closed, and let the heating or air conditioning run. Precisely the type of air conditioning that circulates indoor air without introducing fresh air from outside. To make matters worse, many find 23 degrees too cold, so they turn on the gas heating, where, again, only indoor air is circulated.

For the rest of the day, most people are not seen. Even the next morning, it takes a long time before the first ones get into their cars and drive to work with closed windows.

One might think that the air in offices must surely be better. After all, there are guidelines in the USA that indoor air should be exchanged with fresh air from outside three times an hour. But unfortunately, this is not the case. There are hardly any buildings left where windows can even be opened. Allegedly, it is a regulation. However, we found nothing to confirm this. Instead, all buildings are equipped with ventilation systems. So everything should be fine, right? Far from it. All the ventilation systems we have seen in public buildings and hotels are exclusively air conditioners that circulate room air without introducing fresh air from outside or reducing CO2 content.

In Germany, although we could not see the problem as clearly in department stores, there is also often a disregard for the law in companies, offices, and especially medical practices that stipulates that 40 to 80 cubic meters of fresh air should be supplied per person per hour. As a result, the CO2 concentrations there are also well above the limit of 1000 ppm, at which health damage is already demonstrably occurring.