Real-life ghostbuster explores link between hauntings and poor air quality

Ghost stories have been around for countless generations, and belief in them appears to cross geographical and cultural boundaries. But these days, what everyone wants to know is if the paranormal phenomena is real.

One environmental engineering scientist thinks he may have come across a possible answer to at least some of the creepy, hair-raising sighting of spirits—and it just might have to do with bad air.

“I believe hauntings are a widely-reported phenomena that largely get ignored by the scientific community, but may have potential to yield insightful data regarding human experiences as related to indoor air quality,” explained Shane Rogers, a professor at Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York in an interview with Yahoo Canada News.

A long-time fan of ghost stories, Rogers felt that haunting experiences are strikingly similar to the experiences described by individuals that have been exposed to toxic moulds.

“We are not looking to necessarily debunk hauntings, unless we can identify factors in our initial investigations that may be obvious sources of the reported experiences, and can provide more immediate relief to individuals. Rather, we are looking for clues as to what may be behind some of these phenomena and possibly help people in the process.” explained Rogers.

Rogers and his team believe that mould may possibly be causing neurological effects in people who are continually exposed. These individuals may experience anxiety, irrational fear, confusion or other related symptoms that lead them to ascribe a haunting to an otherwise mundane event, such as normal building sounds.

In more spectacular cases, Rogers suggests that perhaps with particularly susceptible individuals, mould exposure may also cause tingling, trembling, or mild hallucinations that could lead a person “to believe that they have been touched or seen something from the ‘corner of their eye’ that is ascribed to an apparition.”

Indoor air pollutants are considered by many health experts as among the top environmental risks to public health across North America.

While mould is the focus of Rogers’ study, poor indoor air quality has been linked to other pollutants that any cosmopolitan dweller would be familiar with, like dust, carbon monoxide, soot and other cooking-related emissions, chemicals and cleaners usage, and emissions of volatile compounds from building materials, among others.

“The U.S. EPA estimates that the average American spends about 90 percent of their time indoors, and that indoor levels of pollutants may be 2 to 5 times, and occasionally more than 100 times, higher than outdoor pollutant levels,” added Rogers.

However mould appears to be particularly insidious as it can grow rapidly in moist environments, not only where flooding has occurred, but also where there have been problems with condensation or humid environments that have at least 50 per cent humidity. All those humidifiers running full blast for months during the dead of winter help relieve us from dry air, but may also be creating the perfect growing space for mould.

It has been estimated that approximately 33 to 40 per cent of American buildings are mouldy, a fraction of which harbour toxic moulds. And these health effects are not trivial.

Science has been well aware that mould can cause symptoms related to everything from allergies, asthma, inflammation, and infections such as sinusitis. Some moulds can even produce volatile organic compounds (VOCs) says Rogers, which are responsible for musty odors.

“Volatile organic compounds at sufficiently high concentrations from any source can affect the central nervous system and induce headaches, dizziness, attention deficit, and inability to concentrate,” he added.

“Some moulds are particularly toxic, with one strain, Stachybotrys chartarum that emerging evidence is suggesting may even cause brain inflammation, cognitive deficits, emotional problems, memory loss, anxiety, and fear.”

Rogers recently visited and sampled one location—an office space—where there was a long history of reports of weird goings-on, like ceiling tiles moving, disembodied noises, moving objects and a general feeling of unease. What made it even more weird that in the office space across the hall, there had been very limited reports.

“Turns out that the office that is reportedly haunted had approximately 5-6 times the respirable particle counts and greater mould in the air samples than the office across the hall,” said Rogers.

It is this kind of data, mouldy places with and without hauntings, that the researchers are hoping will help them figure out if there is indeed a connection. At this point however, Rogers is still very early in his study and is actively looking for more observational data to include so that a definite conclusion can be made.

With all these possible connections, then, why has the scientific community at large shied away from investigating reports of hauntings?

Rogers believes that there is a definitive stigma attached to those that honestly report their experiences, especially when it can only be described in terms of being paranormal, like a haunting. Couple that with the professional risks that scientists would have to endure from their peers, it’s not an easy phenomenon to study. But Rogers believes that with advances in our understanding of environmental pollution and in the technological tools at our disposal, we might just be able to increase our understanding of some of these spooky events.

“Considering the large number of people that have reported such experiences, the large fraction of buildings and residences that may have mould problems, the emergence of massively parallel DNA sequencing and other technologies, and the analytical tools to handle big data, the time seems right for this type of study to be done successfully,” explained Rogers.

Rogers and his team are now looking to add additional haunted locations to their data set.. Ultimately, Rogers’ says his goal is to “help people to be more healthy and happy in their living environments.”

There does remain one big question: Does Rogers himself think that ghosts really exist?

He says he believes that since there are so many reports from across the globe over generations, there is no doubt that hauntings are ingrained within the human psyche and are part of the overall human experience.

“Stories and experiences related and passed down in human history have enriched our cultures globally and have played an important role shaping our society,” he said.

“We would live in a rather dull world without these phenomena.”