The cognitive costs of air pollution • Hacker News Board

Re: The cognitive costs of air pollution

#161

Post by Psychlist » Mon, Nov 18, 2019, 10:49 PM UTC

WalterBright wrote: post #149

> "Exposure to CO2 and VOCs at levels found in conventional office buildings was associated with lower cognitive scores than those associated with levels of these compounds found in a Green building." – Allen et al 2016. The effect seems to kick in at around 1,000 ppm of CO2. The last time this came up I bought a CO2 meter for my office. I was quite surprised how often it went over 1,000. Outside air runs around 450.…

I have a slightly more capable one but the results are similarly motivating. Right now I'm more concerned with the particulate counts... if 27 is bad, does 120 worse and going outside into 700+ me dumberer?

inside: https://www.uradmonitor.com/tools/dashboard-04/?open=8200009...

outside: https://www.uradmonitor.com/tools/dashboard-04/?open=8200011...

In the office at work is better: https://www.uradmonitor.com/tools/dashboard-04/?open=8200011...

When I was living in Lakemba this prompted me to rig a HEPA filter outside and run my bedroom at positive pressure. That helped a lot. But I've had to move for work so now I'm renting a cardboard box (ok, technically it's "fibro" on piles with a leaky wooden floor. Outside ~= inside)

Re: The cognitive costs of air pollution

#162

Post by dmos62 » Mon, Nov 18, 2019, 10:49 PM UTC

danenania wrote: post #143

dmos62 wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure what _VERY_ polluted means, but you might consider taking up more physical activity. On GCN youtube cycling channel they argued (including interviews with some health professionals) that even if you live in a city with considerable pollution, the positive effects of commuting on a bicycle outweigh the negative effects of air pollution. They were primarily talking about Britain-scale pollution of course.…

Any physical exertion that makes you breathe harder will cause you to take in more pollution, worsening the effects. Even if exercise helps to offset the damage, your best bet in a polluted place would be to do it inside.

It's about the balance of positive and negative effects. There's always some kind of pollution and there's always some kind of benefit from exercise. The benefit from commuting on a bicycle is considerable. Question is how does the effect of pollution compare. If air quality is better indoors and you can do it indoors, great, but for many people commuting is one of the few opportunities to be physically active.

Re: The cognitive costs of air pollution

#163

Post by wang_li » Mon, Nov 18, 2019, 10:50 PM UTC

surfmike wrote: post #84

PowerfulWizard wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anyone want to review this table and suggest a currently commercially available option in the $300 and lower price range? I may have time this afternoon but if anyone does go thorough it I'm interested to know.

I like the IQ air sensors https://www.iqair.com/us/air-quality-monitors/airvisual-pro

I have one of these and it's easy to hook it into your home automation stuff as it presents a CIFS share and it's simply a matter of attaching and reading a text file.

However, the damn thing turns on it's front display and backlight randomly at all hours of the day and night. If you are a sensitive sleeper this thing definitely can't be on your list of items. I contacted their support and was ignored. Generally wouldn't recommend.

Re: The cognitive costs of air pollution

#164

Post by driverdan » Mon, Nov 18, 2019, 10:52 PM UTC

digitalsushi wrote: post #118

short of plants, i want to find a device i can put in my area that reduces the co2 in the air. (my space doesn't support plants, it's too cold).

You want heat recovery ventilation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_recovery_ventilation

Re: The cognitive costs of air pollution

#165

Post by gmas » Mon, Nov 18, 2019, 10:57 PM UTC

bearforcenine wrote: post #52

PowerfulWizard wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anyone want to review this table and suggest a currently commercially available option in the $300 and lower price range? I may have time this afternoon but if anyone does go thorough it I'm interested to know.

Based on my reading of the table, the PurpleAir II sensors seemed to be the best of the sub $300 for PM1.0 (field R^2 of 0.96 to 0.98) and PM2.5 (field R^2 of 0.93 to 0.97). The PM10 readings were not as good (field R^2 of 0.66 to 0.70). After skimming the rest of the table, it looks like the PurpleAir II sensors might have some of the best field R^2 for PM 2.5 and PM 1.0

That sensor is also available from Adafruit: https://www.adafruit.com/product/3686 I got it hooked up to a RaspberryPi that exposes sensor readings in Prometheus format.

Re: The cognitive costs of air pollution

#166

Post by Psychlist » Mon, Nov 18, 2019, 10:59 PM UTC

yagurastation wrote: post #122

Anyone interested should also check out the open source citizen science project https://luftdaten.info/en/ Build your own inexpensive sensor, contribute to the global network. See also https://github.com/opendata-stuttgart

It frustrates me that there are so many of these networks and they don't talk to each other. I deliberately went with a system that measures multiple values, but then I see other people going "we only measure one thing instead of nine so our units cost half as much".

I should try to script at least my systems so they write into as many of the open networks as I can manage.

https://www.uradmonitor.com/

Re: The cognitive costs of air pollution

#167

Post by amelius » Mon, Nov 18, 2019, 11:03 PM UTC

WalterBright wrote: post #149

> "Exposure to CO2 and VOCs at levels found in conventional office buildings was associated with lower cognitive scores than those associated with levels of these compounds found in a Green building." – Allen et al 2016. The effect seems to kick in at around 1,000 ppm of CO2. The last time this came up I bought a CO2 meter for my office. I was quite surprised how often it went over 1,000. Outside air runs around 450.…

Curious, did you notice the cognitive effect yourself?

Re: The cognitive costs of air pollution

#168

Post by zachkatz » Mon, Nov 18, 2019, 11:03 PM UTC

734129837261 wrote: post #160

From Western Europe I moved to Mexico City. I work and live here now, and this city suffers intense amounts of pollution almost every day. When you take an Uber somewhere they all drive with their windows open (airco's are expensive to run) and you get the full blast of diesel trucks and older cars' fumes. I came here for a girl. I'm leaving because of pollution. The city is amazing in its own right, but I feel like…

Damn, I’m about to go to Mexico City—was planning to stay for a few months, but I hate dirty air. Is it like that all over the city, or just certain parts?

Re: The cognitive costs of air pollution

#169

Post by amelius » Mon, Nov 18, 2019, 11:05 PM UTC

WalterBright wrote: post #149

> "Exposure to CO2 and VOCs at levels found in conventional office buildings was associated with lower cognitive scores than those associated with levels of these compounds found in a Green building." – Allen et al 2016. The effect seems to kick in at around 1,000 ppm of CO2. The last time this came up I bought a CO2 meter for my office. I was quite surprised how often it went over 1,000. Outside air runs around 450.…

Perhaps when we commit code, we should have a script that adds "this code was written at x ppm CO2" to the commit message :)

Re: The cognitive costs of air pollution

#170

Post by Psychlist » Mon, Nov 18, 2019, 11:09 PM UTC

cameldrv wrote: post #83

rahuldottech wrote: post #17

This really bothers me. I live in a VERY polluted place, and unfortunately moving away won't be an option for me for at least half a decade. What can I do to minimise the health effects of such an atmosphere? I'm planning on getting an indoor air filter for my home.

Buy a cheap PM detector (There are a few on Amazon using the Plantower sensor that are ~$50.) Buy any HEPA air filter for your home. Buy the best cabin air filter you can for your car (Bosch makes HEPA filters for some cars), and try to get your office to install something, or just buy one for your desk. The hard math of it is that no matter what you do, you aren't going to be able to reduce your exposure by more tha…

I think it's more like 99% on particularly bad days, because where I live over 100 ug/m3 is common during the fire season (which is apparently now November to April)

But if you live in places where the particulates are normally low then yeah, cutting from 50 to 5 is hard.