Thread by @ChGefaell

In minute 2:05:10, @elonmusk told to @realDonaldTrump that people get headaches at 1,000 ppm of CO2. This needs to be qualified. The threshold above which it is considered unhealthy to work for more than 8 hours is 5,000 ppm, and these are some references of CO2 concentrations:

You can find the full interview/conversation here:

https://x.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1823144316014911820

Furthermore, Elon Musk said that CO2 is increasing at 2 ppm/year. Assuming that the main cause of this increase is man, we would not reach 1000ppm until 300 years from now. But there must be other sources of CO2: oil barrel consumption dropped 9% in 2020 and CO2 continued to rise

The sources of the table with the different CO2 levels are multiple; almost a paper for each of the environments or levels mentioned. But I have found that the answers provided by ChatGPT on each level are consistent with this table.

Another important reference on the level of inhaled CO2 is when using fabric, surgical or FFP2 masks. Several studies show that inhaled CO2 levels when masks are worn exceed the recommended safety threshold of 5000 ppm. @elonmusk and @realDonaldTrump, please check the literature.

@elonmusk @realDonaldTrump Study published in SAGE Journal, Sept 2022: With surgical masks the mean inhaled air CO2 is 7,091 ppm in children, 4,835 ppm in adults and 4,379 ppm in the elderly. With FFP2 masks is 13,665 ppm in children, 8,502 ppm in adults and 9,027 ppm in the elderly
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/11…

@elonmusk @realDonaldTrump Study published in "BMC Infectious Diseases", April 2021: CO2 concentrations in inhaled air when using FFP2 masks (KN95) are between 24,000 ppm and 26,000 ppm, considerably higher than the NIOSH recommended limit of 5,000 ppm for 8-hour exposures. bmcinfectdis.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.11…

Study published in "Aerosol and Air Quality Research", October 2020: CO2 concentrations in air inhaled with different types of respirators, including fabric, surgical or FFP2 masks, are between 2,150 and 2,875 ppm.
aaqr.org/articles/aaqr-…

In summary:
1. Assuming that the main cause of the current increase in CO2 is man, it will take 300 years to exceed 1,000 ppm.
2. But the main cause is not man, but natural sources, probably the oceans.
3. In countless situations we breathe more than 1,000 ppm for many hours

Table updated, including the CO2 concentrations in the air inhaled when using masks and the NIOSH recommended limit of 5,000 ppm for 8-hour exposures.