ABSTRACT
It is useful to compare the air breathed per unit of time to the corresponding intakes of water and food. Values for normal intakes of air, water, and food can be found in various references for men, women, and children (Altman and Dittmer, 1974; EPA, 1985; Schleien et al., 1998). As shown in Table 2.1, the reference man at rest inhales about 10,800 liters of air per day, and consumes about 1.7 liters of drinking water and about 1.6 liters of food in the same period. Because air at room conditions has a density of about 1.2 g/L, the corresponding daily masses of intake of air, water, and food are about 13,000, 1,700, and 1,600 g, respectively.
