Carbon dioxide (also known as CO2) is a chemical that we often look at when doing IAQ surveys. We don’t watch it because its a health issue, rather it helps us determine how much outside air is being delivered to a space.
When an office doesn’t receive much outside air, the CO2 levels rise. At the same time, contaminants in the space rise correspondingly. Now if you can keep the CO2 levels low, by bringing in outside air, then you also dilute the contaminant levels in the same space. So in that way, reducing CO2 helps to reduce indoor air contaminants.
Honestly, the levels of CO2 would need to be at 2,000 parts per million or greater before they would affect a building’s occupants, and at those levels, most people would just feel a bit sleepy or lethargic.
Keeping the CO2 levels low through the delivery of outside air can go a long way towards reducing potential contaminants in commercial buildings. That’s the goal anyway!