Carbon Dioxide buffoonery

Was going to post this but Anthony beat me to it. This item caught my eye earlier today -- from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory:

Elevated Indoor Carbon Dioxide Impairs Decision-Making Performance
Overturning decades of conventional wisdom, researchers at the Department of Energy�s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have found that moderately high indoor concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) can significantly impair people�s decision-making performance. The results were unexpected and may have particular implications for schools and other spaces with high occupant density.

�In our field we have always had a dogma that CO2 itself, at the levels we find in buildings, is just not important and doesn�t have any direct impacts on people,� said Berkeley Lab scientist William Fisk, a co-author of the study, which was published in Environmental Health Perspectives online last month. �So these results, which were quite unambiguous, were surprising.� The study was conducted with researchers from State University of New York (SUNY) Upstate Medical University.

On nine scales of decision-making performance, test subjects showed significant reductions on six of the scales at CO2 levels of 1,000 parts per million (ppm) and large reductions on seven of the scales at 2,500 ppm. The most dramatic declines in performance, in which subjects were rated as �dysfunctional,� were for taking initiative and thinking strategically. �Previous studies have looked at 10,000 ppm, 20,000 ppm; that�s the level at which scientists thought effects started,� said Berkeley Lab scientist Mark Mendell, also a co-author of the study. �That�s why these findings are so startling.�

A bit more:

Fisk, Mendell, and their colleagues, including Usha Satish at SUNY Upstate Medical University, assessed CO2 exposure at three concentrations: 600, 1,000 and 2,500 ppm. They recruited 24 participants, mostly college students, who were studied in groups of four in a small office-like chamber for 2.5 hours for each of the three conditions. Ultrapure CO2 was injected into the air supply and mixing was ensured, while all other factors, such as temperature, humidity, and ventilation rate, were kept constant. The sessions for each person took place on a single day, with one-hour breaks between sessions.

Although the sample size was small, the results were unmistakable. �The stronger the effect you have, the fewer subjects you need to see it,� Fisk said. �Our effect was so big, even with a small number of people, it was a very clear effect.�

Sample size of twenty four? No control group? Stunningly bad lab practice and science... I remembered something about CO₂ in Navy Submarines and Anthony found two citations. From Watts Up With That:

Claim: CO2 makes you stupid? Ask a submariner that question
Posted on October 17, 2012 by Anthony Watts

From Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, something that might finally explain Al Gore�s behavior � too much time spent indoors and in auditoriums giving pitches about the dangers of CO2. One wonders though what the Navy submarine service has to say about this new research:

We try to keep CO2 levels in our U.S. Navy submarines no higher than 8,000 parts per million, about 20 time current atmospheric levels. Few adverse effects are observed at even higher levels. � Senate testimony of Dr. William Happer, here

This is backed up by the publication from the National Academies of Science Emergency and Continuous Exposure Guidance Levels for Selected Submarine Contaminants which documents effects of CO2 at much much higher levels than the medical study, and shows regular safe exposure at these levels�

Data collected on nine nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines indicate an average CO2 concentration of 3,500 ppm with a range of 0-10,600 ppm, and data collected on 10 nuclear-powered attack submarines indicate an average CO2 concentration of 4,100 ppm with a range of 300-11,300 ppm (Hagar 2003). � page 46

�but shows no concern at the values of 600-2500 ppm of this medical study from LBNL. I figure if the Navy thinks it is safe for men who have their finger on the nuclear weapons keys, then that is good enough for me.

So busted on so many counts... It's that eeeeeevil Carbon Dioxide. Right up there with Dihydrogen Monoxide