工作狀態不佳？都怪二氧化碳

You might think it's your colleagues or the pressures of work that's getting you down at the office, but new research suggests it could well be the air you're breathing instead. Scientists in the US have found that the concentration of carbon dioxide inside the confined spaces we use every day could be high enough to damage our health.
你也許會認爲是你的同事或者是工作壓力讓你在辦公室裏萎靡不振，但是新的研究說明可能只是辦公室裏的空氣在作祟。美國的科學家發現我們每天所處的密閉空間中的高濃度二氧化碳會損害我們的健康。

Of course, it's well established that high levels of CO2 are dangerous, not just for human beings but for the planet as a whole, but the new research raises questions about carbon dioxide concentrations that were previously considered harmless.
當然，地球人都知道二氧化碳濃度過高是危險的，不僅對人是這樣，對地球也是如此。但是新的研究提出了這樣一個問題，那就是之前被人們當作人畜無害的辦公室二氧化碳的濃度問題。

The researchers gathered together 24 volunteers and tested their performance in three different simulated office environments. The key metric here is parts-per-million (ppm) of CO2: 5,000 ppm is currently considered the safe limit for an 8-hour workday, while 90,000 ppm will kill you within 5 minutes.
研究者們找來了24名志願者，把他們分在三個不同的模擬環境下測試他們的反應。這裏有個關鍵的標準，那就是對於8小時工作而言，5000 ppm的二氧化碳目前被人認是安全標準，如果是90000 ppm，那麼你5分鐘內就會死。

The team experimented with three different levels over the course of a standard 9-to-5 routine: 550 ppm (similar to outdoor levels), 945 ppm (what you would expect in most offices) and 1,400 ppm (denser but still plausible for many offices).
團隊按照標準的朝九晚五工作時間準備了三個不同級別的環境：550 ppm(跟室外的濃度差不多)，945 ppm(跟大多數辦公室差不多)，和1400 ppm(更濃，但是相當多的辦公室都是這樣)。

By giving the participants a cognitive test at the end of the day, they were able to spot a clear trend between CO2 levels and brain function. Those working with 945 ppm of carbon dioxide in the air averaged scores that were 15 percent lower than those in a 550 pm room. The unfortunate workers who had to handle levels of 1,440 ppm, meanwhile, performed 50 percent worse than the 550 ppm group. People's ability to use information, respond to a crisis and strategise were hit particularly hard, the researchers said.
在一天結束後，參與者要進行認知測驗。在測驗中，不同的二氧化碳濃度對大腦功能產生了明顯的影響。在二氧化碳濃度爲945 ppm環境中工作的人的平均分比550 ppm的要低15%。那些不幸呼吸着1440 ppm的傢伙的平均分只有550 ppm的50%。研究者們說，尤其是使用信息，應對危機和策略分析的能力被極大影響了。

Indoor concentrations are affected by many different factors: not just the ventilation installed inside the building and how many windows are open, but also the number of people in the room - because we breath out carbon dioxide - and even how much CO2 is floating around in the neighbouring streets.
有很多因素可以影響室內二氧化碳濃度：除了建築內的通風設備，打開的窗戶數量，還有房間裏的人數——因爲我們都在呼出二氧化碳——甚至在周圍街區的二氧化碳含量。

The researchers, from Harvard and Syracuse University, say carbon dioxide should be considered direct pollutant and not just a marker for other pollutants, plus more research is now required to see how even low levels of CO2 can impair brain function.
來自哈佛大學和錫拉丘茲大學的研究者們說，二氧化碳應該被當做直接污染物，而不僅僅是其他污染物的標記。他們還認爲需要進行更多的實驗來測試低濃度的二氧化碳對大腦功能的傷害。

"These exposures should be investigated in other indoor environments, such as homes, schools and airplanes, where decrements in cognitive function and decision-making could have significant impacts on productivity, learning and safety," concludes the report, published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.
發表在《環境健康展望》雜誌上的這篇報告在結論中寫道：“這些實驗還應該在其他室內環境內進行，比如家裏，學校和飛機上，這些地方我們的大腦功能和決策能力的衰減會嚴重影響生產力，學習能力和安全。”

In the meantime, you might want to ask your boss if you can open up a window.
同時，你也許該跟領導請示下能不能打開窗戶了。