The health benefits of better air • Hacker News Board

Re: The health benefits of better air

#371

Post by xaduha » Wed, Apr 28, 2021, 12:09 PM UTC

airhead969 wrote: post #366

xaduha wrote: post #337

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reverse osmosis filtered water is mainly what I have in mind, companies sell that. 6-14 PPM is what I measured personally and I think it falls into this category.

That's some crappy RO water. My home system takes 45 ppm water and reduces it to Distilled water is made by steam condensation, and nearly ultra-pure but still contains dissolved gases. DI water should be made from some distilled water to be the highest possible purity, but it's usually made from RO or simply filtered tap water. There are some things DI can do that steam distillation can't, and vice-versa. The two pr…

Ok, I modified my original comment.

> My home system takes 45 ppm water and reduces it to My tap water is around 227 and filter is just recently installed, there's still some air in the system. I don't think it will go that low ever, but it's good enough for me. I plan to remineralize it a bit for drinking anyway, so it's all a bit moot.

Re: The health benefits of better air

#372

Post by intrasight » Wed, Apr 28, 2021, 12:10 PM UTC

Two years ago, I participated in a rocis.org study cohort. It was very informative. Participants are given a collection of monitors (particulate, CO2, radon, and one other I can't remember). We are given three air particulate monitors. participants collect the data and send it back to rocis.org. Here were some of the main takeaways personally. Note that I live in Pittsburgh which doesn't have great air.

A. The idea that you should "open your window to let in fresh air" is false. The outdoor air is 10x worse at my house and I don't live it a "polluted" neighborhood but in the burbs.

B. Monitoring is very insightful. I put one monitor outside, one in the living room, and one in my bedroom. The outdoor air like I said was 10x worse than indoors. Indoors wasn't so great either. I replaced my furnace electrostatic filters with quality HEPA filters (they make box filters the same size as electrostatic panels and they are beasts). The indoor air quality improved by about 30%. I added a Blue HEPA filter to the bedroom. It runs continuously at the middle fan setting. Bedroom air quality improved by about 50%.

C. Cooking is the biggest contributor to indoor pollution. When you monitor in real-time this becomes obvious. Induction is the way to go. Of course, the high-end appliance manufacturers are going to continue to make you covet that gas range. But if you're building or renovating a kitchen, go inductive.

Re: The health benefits of better air

#373

Post by deeblering4 » Wed, Apr 28, 2021, 12:18 PM UTC

It’s interesting that installing an ERV system (energy recovery ventilation) in the home wasn't mentioned. These are devices that bring in fresh air from outside but retain much of the inside temperature.

Many things in the home offgas harmful chemicals or particulates. Continually cycling the air is a good way to reduce the amount you are breathing, especially in highly efficient homes that are close to air tight.

Re: The health benefits of better air

#374

Post by graeme » Wed, Apr 28, 2021, 12:21 PM UTC

majani wrote: post #359

shlant wrote: post #340

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I never understood perspectives akin to "why would I want to add years to my life when I'll just be old anyways?". I think many people don't realize that if you take care of your body (especially eating well and movement) you not only extend your lifespan but your quality of life as well in the later years. Anecdotally, my parents exercise regularly and take decent care of themselves compared to their friends (I even…

What age are your parents? I find it hard to believe that you can live past 80 years with a high quality of life, barring having 1 in 100 age-related genetics

My great aunt golfed until about 95, danced, read books, went to a cafe every day. She bad a wonderful life and was very happy right until the end.

80 is way too young for the kind of physical and mental degeneration you’re envisioning to happen automatically.

Now most people don’t eat well, aren’t especially mobile, will be quite overweight by 60+ with multiple chronic health conditions, lots of muscle loss, etc. This is obviously common. My point is most of those conditions are lifestyle conditions and are not automatic features of aging.

Re: The health benefits of better air

#375

Post by darkerside » Wed, Apr 28, 2021, 12:22 PM UTC

ehnto wrote: post #214

Eric_WVGG wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the particular bit about the subway may be informed by very recent news that the air pollution in the New York subway stations is far in excess of what anyone had inspected. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/feb/10/subway-a... As for actual subway workers… I mean it’s not exactly a coal mine, but I would be pretty surprised if their mortality wasn’t at least somewhat measurably lower than, say, tha…

Just to point out how why this is a fairly nuanced topic, a shepherd may be breathing clean air but they're also exposed to UV radiation all day. They may have a higher morbidity due to increased skin cancer rates.

Besides melanomas which are relatively rare, most skin cancers actually carry a net mortality benefit because of the association with being outside.

Re: The health benefits of better air

#376

Post by legulere » Wed, Apr 28, 2021, 12:24 PM UTC

colechristensen wrote: post #108

ahaucnx wrote: post #9

Thank you for this extensive resource on air quality. Yes, it needs to get more attention as it is one of the main drivers of mortality of environmental risks. One thing one has to bear in mind is that often when you optmize your home for low PM (e.g. with air purifiers and fixing of air leackage) your CO2 will get very high causing headaches and reduce cognitive performance. So it always makes sense for indoor air q…

I have an AirVisual Pro, which is quite expensive, but my half finished air quality monitor project had been on the bench for much too long. I have windows open all the time, air conditioning on too often, and dehumidifiers and HEPA filters as well. It is not efficient or particularly environmentally friendly... but I want a CO2 level My next half baked idea is figuring out a way to have a sealed home and an applianc…

Typical Passivhaus-Buildings are very airtight and feature air exchange systems often even with HEPA-Filters. That should do the trick.

Re: The health benefits of better air

#377

Post by graeme » Wed, Apr 28, 2021, 12:28 PM UTC

Years ago I read scientists saying that indoor air pollution was one of the largest causes of death, disease, and decreased quality of life. So I decided to take it seriously. This is one of my biggest eccentricities, as people find it very hard to believe anything invisible matters.

My biggest hack in this regard: living somewhere with low enough ambient pollution that you can open a window. Say less than 50 pm 2.5 outdoors. This reliably leads to a pm 2.5 of 4 indoors, even with windows shut, as long as I am not cooking poorly.

Then the open window will vent VOCs and CO2. Even a tiny crack of an open window in winter is sufficient. In summer you need more open.

That’s pretty much it, and the rest is making sure not to burn stuff when cooking, which mostly involves keeping the stove clean and not letting anything fall on the burners, and putting hot water in warm pans after cooking.

I measure all of this with an awair, a laseregg, and a co2 monitor. It’s pretty low effort and I feel confident the air quality is good.

If I do mess up while cooking I open windows to vent and put on a mask until it has dissipated. It’s all mostly just background habit now.

Re: The health benefits of better air

#378

Post by airhead969 » Wed, Apr 28, 2021, 12:28 PM UTC

xaduha wrote: post #371

airhead969 wrote: post #366

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's some crappy RO water. My home system takes 45 ppm water and reduces it to Distilled water is made by steam condensation, and nearly ultra-pure but still contains dissolved gases. DI water should be made from some distilled water to be the highest possible purity, but it's usually made from RO or simply filtered tap water. There are some things DI can do that steam distillation can't, and vice-versa. The two pr…

Ok, I modified my original comment. > My home system takes 45 ppm water and reduces it to My tap water is around 227 and filter is just recently installed, there's still some air in the system. I don't think it will go that low ever, but it's good enough for me. I plan to remineralize it a bit for drinking anyway, so it's all a bit moot.

Filters and RO systems rarely remove dissolved gases. Try making ice from RO water vs. lab DI water.

Re: The health benefits of better air

#379

Post by graeme » Wed, Apr 28, 2021, 12:29 PM UTC

intrasight wrote: post #372

Two years ago, I participated in a rocis.org study cohort. It was very informative. Participants are given a collection of monitors (particulate, CO2, radon, and one other I can't remember). We are given three air particulate monitors. participants collect the data and send it back to rocis.org. Here were some of the main takeaways personally. Note that I live in Pittsburgh which doesn't have great air. A. The idea t…

Wow what’s the pm 2.5 in Pittsburgh? In montreal it is 40 or so, and I find with windows open the indoor level will be 4-13.

Totally agreed about cooking. Surprising how much a tiny scree up can send rates skyrocketing to 300+.

Re: The health benefits of better air

#380

Post by smiley1437 » Wed, Apr 28, 2021, 12:31 PM UTC

phantom_oracle wrote: post #336

Micro-managing your life to this extent is probably why all dystopian books/movies involve some well-meaning technical person who thinks we should be doing XYZ to prolong our lives. While these things may (anecdotally) prolong your life, does anybody really want to be 102 and having to be nursed for all the basic needs like bathing yourself? Combine this article with the many(many) others that tell you how to micro-m…

In this specific instance, the solution is very low cost and low effort, so the ROI is probably good.

Also, in general, the later years of your life when you've gained experience and wisdom are quite valuable to the world, it's not a bad idea to maximize those.