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The cognitive costs of air pollution

patrickcollison.com

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Re: The cognitive costs of air pollution

#251

Post by amaurymartiny »

There's a study[1] by Richard Muller from Berkeley Earth that proposes an equivalence between air pollution and daily cigarettes smoked. He uses the number of deaths caused by these 2 factors as a common denominator to calculate the equivalence.

I believe cognitive cost would also be a good denominator. Something like "we find that an increase of 10 µg/m³ raises the probability of a chess player making an error by 1.5 percentage points. The same 1.5 percentage points would be caused by smoking 2 cigarettes per day."

Plug: I'm the author of an open-source mobile app[2] which does this pollution-cigarettes conversion. I think cigarettes gives a strong image of air quality for those who are unfamiliar with AQI.

[1]: http://berkeleyearth.org/air-pollution-and-cigarette-equival... [2]: https://shootismoke.github.io/

Re: The cognitive costs of air pollution

#252

Post by kyu9 »

wang_li wrote: post #163
surfmike wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 woul…

you can try changing the power saving mode (under 'performance'). it lets you adjust when the screen auto turns off/on

Re: The cognitive costs of air pollution

#253

Post by Youden »

PowerfulWizard wrote: post #39
spladug wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The South Coast (California) Air Quality Management District does some really thorough tests on the quality of the various low-cost sensors: https://www.aqmd.gov/aq-spec/evaluations/summary-pm

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.

If you just want a sensor rather than a full retail device I'd recommend the SPS30. I have one and it's very easy to work with and per that table, is very accurate, while not needing any extra software correction. It's also cheaper than that table suggests: you can buy it for ~$50USD from Mouser.

Re: The cognitive costs of air pollution

#254

Post by UnbugMe »

gwern wrote: post #203
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.…

Previous discussions on HN debating the Allen result among others: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14738010 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21237875 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18959796 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19845029 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14738010 http://lesswrong.com/r/discussion/lw/nk0/what_is_up_with_car...

Those links, one per line:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14738010

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21237875

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18959796

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19845029

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14738010

http://lesswrong.com/r/discussion/lw/nk0/what_is_up_with_car...

Re: The cognitive costs of air pollution

#258

Post by davidwihl »

Psychlist wrote: post #161
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/d…

What device did you use to capture all the data including radiation?

Re: The cognitive costs of air pollution

#259

Post by saiya-jin »

lstodd wrote: post #239
simonebrunozzi wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And f) most passive house designs have humidity/mold issues down the road, unless proper and frequent maintenance is done. (I've read about passiv haus and similar a while back).

Mold is only an issue in hot climate. When it's never above 25C / 75F _and_ humidity is controlled, there is never any mold.

Never above 25C... so Iceland, Greenland and Svalbard? Actually not even those, they are pretty humid above 0 celzius

Re: The cognitive costs of air pollution

#260

Post by eugenijusr »

jonstewart wrote: post #198
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.…

One of the big trends in green/sustainable building is creating relatively air tight buildings in order to cut down on heating and cooling costs (see: Passiv Haus, Passive House, Pretty Good House). In order to do that, though, mechanical ventilation is needed. As a result, Heat-Recovery Ventilation & Enthalpy-Recovery Ventilation residential units can be installed for only $2k-$4K. Seems like a worthwhile investment…

I live in a relatively new apartment building that has heat recovery system installed in all apartments by default. My apartment is 73sqm, the ventilation unit is rated at 300m3/h. The building is located in a busy part of town with lots of traffic around. The city has a humid continental climate (Dfb) so it does get pretty cold during winter.

It does help a lot and I couldn't imagine living without it.

- Filters out particle pollution - https://twitter.com/eugenijusr/status/1105740301493260289

- Removes CO2 - averages ~650ppm in all rooms, almost never goes higher than 1000ppm (3 person household).

- Retains up to 85% of heat (based on the specs) using the exchanger, but also has an active electric heater inside that can be turned on in winter for ultimate comfort.

- Removes moisture from the bathroom and kitchen and dumps it into the drain via a separate drain pipe.

- Isolates from the outside noise as you can keep your windows closed shut all the time.

It does have some drawbacks however:

- Up to +6dB noise in rooms when running at full power (I run it at 20% at night which only adds ~+1dB).

- F7 class filters need to be changed every 3-6 months (~50€).

- Air intake grill with a pre-filter mesh needs thorough cleaning every 6-12 months as it usually gets clogged with debris in spring and autumn.

Not sure if it's due to these drawbacks or lack of knowledge lots of residents don't actually use their unit. You can tell by the open windows all year round. Most say it's too noisy for them - most probably due to lack of maintenance. Others are just plain ignorant saying opening windows is the only way to get "fresh air".

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