> <i>The World Health Organization estimates that 80 percent of people living in urban environments are being exposed to unhealthy levels of air pollution from particulates and it says they cause four million deaths annually around the world.</i><p>The level of particulates middle-class people face indoors in the worst urban environments is tiny compared to the level of particulates people face (esp. in rural areas) wherever cooking is done indoors over a wood fire. We’re talking about a level of wood smoke filling the room which causes eyes to redden and start watering, and makes it physically difficult to breathe. (Source: my parents are anthropologists and my godparents are indigenous rural Mexican peasant farmers, and I spent lots of time growing up sitting next to wood-burning hearth fires.) On average, by historical standards, humans’ current exposure to particulates is very low and continues to drop every year.<p>I don’t know if it makes sense for people to freak out about cooking eggs in their houses, though having effective indoor ventilation is obviously worthwhile, all else equal.<p>Edit: I looked up the actual WHO source (not linked in the OP): <a href="http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2014/air-pollution/en/" rel="nofollow">http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2014/air-pollut...</a><p>> <i>After analysing the risk factors and taking into account revisions in methodology, WHO estimates indoor air pollution was linked to 4.3 million deaths in 2012 in households cooking over coal, wood and biomass stoves.</i><p>This is <i>not</i> talking about people using a gas range with an underpowered ventilation hood to cook eggs, and the 4 million deaths number is not restricted to urban areas. The people dying here don’t need a little electronic air quality detector, they need electrification and rising incomes so they can afford better heaters and stoves.<p>To cut outdoor air pollution, we should get people to stop burning piles of trash, stop using fire to clear large areas for agriculture, switch away from coal power plants as soon as possible, and try to get the worst polluting old vehicles off the roads.
I live in China and have a Laser Egg (1) in my home. It's extremely accurate, often matching the AQI reading found by online services. What I'm interested in is learning how to purify the air inside. I knew cooking was a major culprit in raising PM2.5 levels. But even when running two air purifiers sometimes the AQI just can't be lowered too much. I think it's leaky seals in the apartment. We're on the 18th floor and on a windy day can feel a huge draft from the front door and hear the wind escaping the balcony windows.<p>1. <a href="http://www.originstech.com/products/laseregg/" rel="nofollow">http://www.originstech.com/products/laseregg/</a>
I'm curious about the composition of the particles emitted when frying the eggs, and on the specific toxicity of cooking oil droplets and specs of albumin...<p>I'd expect both to be readily processed by macrophages, without harm, unlike the soot particles produced by burning either wood, coal or petrol derivatives...
Funnily enough I'm just embarking on a little project to monitor the the air around me and have ordered a particle counter off ebay (<a href="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Hot-Selling-USB-Port-Laser-Dust-Sensor-Module-PM1-0-PM2-5-PM10-Detector-/172139517641?hash=item28145096c9:g:mBcAAOSwu1VW7X9u" rel="nofollow">http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Hot-Selling-USB-Port-Laser-Dus...</a>)<p>£29, hooks up to usb somehow. I've yet to get it and try to figure drivers.<p>I'm now trying to find a cheap NO2 sensor. Those seem to be the main categories that do people in in London. The Guardian figured 3,537 deaths for pm2.5, 5,879 deaths from NO2 in 2010 approx.
During undergrad, me and some peers (all chemists) talked about having such a network of air sensors. Having good resolution on air quality measurements could drastically improve the quality of life of people living in big cities. We never knew how to monetize this, however. One way we thought about was to install a private network of sensors (inside and outside houses) and then sell the datasets to research agencies. Doesn't see too profitable though.<p>Ideally what you need is a machine that can take different measurements: wind speed and direction, temperature, humidity, VOC levels, ozone, nitrogen compounds and general particulate matter.<p>A static network of sensors is a great start, but your measurements basically define a surface. What you'd want is a fleet of drones which could "stand still" in formation, let's say a 50 x 50 x 50 drone cube each 1m apart, and take volumetric + time measurements. That would be _awesome_ :)
Some indoor air purifiers have particle count sensors that activate the purifier fan.<p>BTW - anyone have recommendations for an air purifier with a true HEPA filter?
Canary - <a href="https://canary.is/" rel="nofollow">https://canary.is/</a> - the home security camera comes equipped with sensors that are capable of measuring air quality. I reckon this will be a big deal for a lot of people, although right now most don't even know that such measurements are possible or why they're important.
Surprisingly, I haven't heard of AirViz before. Their CEO is Allah Nourbakhsh, CMU Robotics Institute professor, previously(?) involved with GigaPan.
not a very good name for international expansion as "Speck" means "bacon" in German.<p><a href="https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speck" rel="nofollow">https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speck</a>
If you've ever worked as a cleaner you'll appreciate what tobacco smoke, foods cooked in Indian style, people not venting their rooms (hello mold) can do to the furnishings, walls and ceilings. Maybe if your environment is turning a deep ocher, it isn't healthy to live in it. I am completely unsurprised if the people who live in them die younger.<p>People with wealth probably imagine themselves immune to the problem as they have a cleaning staff but that is not true either. They need to watch out with new cars and new houses. These should be ideally left alone for up to six months so the off gassing of paints, lacquers, chaulking can happen and also the dust level from construction can die down.
Yes it's an advert but the problem itself is a real one.<p>Dirty air will grind your respiratory system down. Your lungs. You need those to breathe.