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The Weight of Numbers: Air Pollution and PM2.5

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Re: The Weight of Numbers: Air Pollution and PM2.5

#21

Post by graeme »

clumsysmurf wrote: post #11

Its probably worse that it looks "Researchers from Queen Mary University of London have found that people exposed to air pollution levels well within UK guidelines have changes in the structure of the heart, similar to those seen in the early stages of heart failure." https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/08/180803103315.h...

>In the study, average annual exposures to PM2.5 were well within UK guidelines (25µg per cubic metre), although they were approaching or past World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines (10µg per cubic metre).

What AQI do these numbers translate to?

Re: The Weight of Numbers: Air Pollution and PM2.5

#22

Post by graeme »

gascan wrote: post #9
gh02t wrote: post #3

I recently built a sensor for particulate matter (using the Plantower PMS7003, a laser-based sensor) and it's interesting to look at the effects of every day tasks. Cooking for instance causes a huge spike in PM1.0/2.5/10.0 levels, but so do more mundane tasks like vacuuming or spraying aerosols. I'd like to add a sensor for CO2, but it's a bit more complicated. A lot of the easy to use sensors marketed for the purpo…

Cooking with gas or electricity? I've heard before that cooking with gas causes significantly more indoor air quality problems, but I'm curious what your observations are.

My electric stove shoots my AQI through the roof when frying. Made me consider alternate ways to cook.

Though, would like to know if gas is worse, as one alternative I was considering was Donabe, which requires gas.

Re: The Weight of Numbers: Air Pollution and PM2.5

#23

Post by b_b »

I'd recommend anyone who would like to clean the air of the home to use products from SmartAir [1] which is as inexpensive as just a fan attached to a filter, both of which they sell (although you can just buy the filter by itself and attach it to a fan you already own). I visited their office in China and received a complementary filter, which when installed in my hotel room in Beijing, definitely cleared the air and there was a noticeable difference from such a simple mechanism. Recommended for both price and effectiveness.

[1] = https://smartairfilters.com/cn/en/?r=global

Re: The Weight of Numbers: Air Pollution and PM2.5

#24

Post by clumsysmurf »

b_b wrote: post #23

I'd recommend anyone who would like to clean the air of the home to use products from SmartAir [1] which is as inexpensive as just a fan attached to a filter, both of which they sell (although you can just buy the filter by itself and attach it to a fan you already own). I visited their office in China and received a complementary filter, which when installed in my hotel room in Beijing, definitely cleared the air an…

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the fans in these units appear to be axial — but ideally you would want centrifugal fans for this application.

Re: The Weight of Numbers: Air Pollution and PM2.5

#25

Post by sberder »

anarbadalov wrote: post #2

Undark & the Pulitzer Center visited seven countries on five continents to examine the impacts of particulate pollution on the lives of everyday people, and to uncover what’s being done — or not — to address it. The project is comprised of data visualizations, short narratives, on-the-ground 360-degree videos, an explainer film, and photos from Pulitzer prizewinning photographer Larry Price. What's interesting is tha…

A very interesting subject indeed, living in China and running a startup in that field, I find educating people is the biggest challenge of all!

Re: The Weight of Numbers: Air Pollution and PM2.5

#26

Post by sberder »

qiqing wrote: post #7
legulere wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a sensor built into an air purifier and have observed the same. Anything textile-related is bad like shaking out your blanket, which makes carpets seem horrible to me. But frying stuff really is the worst. You can go in the hundreds of micrograms, even with induction. A positive thing I have also learned is that opening the windows works best to get PM levels to a background level. Luckily it is only in the ar…

Do you recommend the air purifier that you have? And would you mind sharing which one has a built-in sensor? I'd like to try measuring my laundry room.

Most purifiers on the market with built-in sensors are unreliable to measure. They usually go for cheap IR sensors without flow control. Your results will vary wildly depending on conditions (temperature and humidity affect measurements a lot). I personally like Xiaomi purifiers for their affordability and noise level.

If you're concerned about measuring pm2.5 in your space, you should consider buying a good entry level monitor like the laser egg or air visual (acquired by iqair not so long ago).

Don't hesitate to ask more questions, air quality had been my main business for the past 4 years.

Re: The Weight of Numbers: Air Pollution and PM2.5

#27

Post by ggm »

anarbadalov wrote: post #2

Undark & the Pulitzer Center visited seven countries on five continents to examine the impacts of particulate pollution on the lives of everyday people, and to uncover what’s being done — or not — to address it. The project is comprised of data visualizations, short narratives, on-the-ground 360-degree videos, an explainer film, and photos from Pulitzer prizewinning photographer Larry Price. What's interesting is tha…

Do you work with the people at QUT (Brisbane) or Floreanopolis (Brazil) doing fine particulate work near airports and in hospitals? my partner did some proofreading and english-as-a-second-language with these people, fascinating stuff (as a complete outsider) and very important.

Re: The Weight of Numbers: Air Pollution and PM2.5

#28

Post by bigmit37 »

gh02t wrote: post #3

I recently built a sensor for particulate matter (using the Plantower PMS7003, a laser-based sensor) and it's interesting to look at the effects of every day tasks. Cooking for instance causes a huge spike in PM1.0/2.5/10.0 levels, but so do more mundane tasks like vacuuming or spraying aerosols. I'd like to add a sensor for CO2, but it's a bit more complicated. A lot of the easy to use sensors marketed for the purpo…

Do you have any recommendations for sensors I can buy? I don’t know If I would be able to build one.

Re: The Weight of Numbers: Air Pollution and PM2.5

#29

Post by sberder »

b_b wrote: post #23

I'd recommend anyone who would like to clean the air of the home to use products from SmartAir [1] which is as inexpensive as just a fan attached to a filter, both of which they sell (although you can just buy the filter by itself and attach it to a fan you already own). I visited their office in China and received a complementary filter, which when installed in my hotel room in Beijing, definitely cleared the air an…

I wouldn't, I've used their filters and followed them from the very beginning. It is an inexpensive solution but comes with its own serious flaws. They're very noisy which doesn't really work well in rooms where you actually live. They also suffer from poor CADR (Clean Air Delivery Rate) as those fans were never designed to handle high pressure differentials (before/after filter) unless you run them at full speed which is noisy.

The project is interesting nonetheless, it helped demystifying purifiers and rectify the market prices in China (with other brands like Phillips and Xiaomi). Their new product for professional spaces is quite good.

Re: The Weight of Numbers: Air Pollution and PM2.5

#30

Post by exogen »

elektor wrote: post #5

Does anyone have experience with buying an air quality sensor for personal use? I know of Plume and AirBeam but have not seen them in use.

I have a Foobot which is a consumer-friendly version, less like a professional instrument and more like a smart speaker.

The neat thing is that it has an API, so I was able to build my own pretty dashboard showing PM, VOCs, and CO2 in my apartment.

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