Sometimes I hear people say air pollution is invisible. But after years of living in Beijing and Delhi, I’ve been amazed at how well we can detect air pollution with our eyes. But it’s a bit complicated. If you’re not thinking about it, it’s easy to overlook. I discovered that when I spent […]
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Where should an air filter be placed relative to the fan for best efficiency?
If you’ve been wondering whether the filter should go on the front or back of the fan, then you’re in luck, because this nerd right here has been building and testing DIY air purifiers to survive Beijing for the last four years! I’ve got actual data on this question, and the answer is the opposite of what most people tell me […]
How do people in Beijing exercise with such bad air pollution?
I’m in Beijing right now, and I’m going to exercise today. So what can I do when the world outside my window looks like this? Would exercise do more harm than good? 1. The point where exercise becomes harmful Researchers at Cambridge analyzed studies on the benefits of exercise and the harms of […]
Protect yourself from air pollution in polluted cities: Beginner’s Fact Guide
So you’ve arrived to a polluted city, be it in Beijing or Bangalore, Delhi or Shanghai. Here’s how you can protect yourself from air pollution: When I moved to China in 2007, I wasn’t a dummy. I was a college grad, and I knew about air pollution. But I knew almost nothing about protecting myself […]
Is Molekule really better than similarly priced air purifiers already on the market?
Over this last Christmas, I was at home on the couch, and my dad asked me if I’ve seen this new purifier he saw an ad for. He asked not because he’s interested in purifiers, not because I’m some PhD in fluid mechanics (I’m a cultural psychologist, not a physicist), but because I’ve […]
3 Things You Need to Know About Formaldehyde: Part Two
OK, my home has formaldehyde in it. How long will it take to get back to normal? When researching this question, I really wanted to see tests in real-world apartments. I want to understand how formaldehyde acts in real homes, not in a laboratory plexiglass container. That’s critical because sometimes people take results from […]
3 Things You Need to Know About Formaldehyde Part One
Have you ever moved into a newly remodeled apartment and smelled that chemical, remodeling smell? I’m very much not an expert in air pollution, but I am very much a dedicated nerd. And i’ve spent the last five years of my nerd energy on researching and testing formaldehyde in China. This series shares the three […]
Chengdu pollution now worse than Beijing
I just analyzed Chengdu’s PM2.5 pollution data for the first half of 2018, and there’s a surprise. Chengdu barely edged out Beijing! Someone get those pandas a mask. The difference is small—1 microgram. But it’s notable because Beijing is famous for its pollution, whereas Chengdu is not. My guess is lots of […]
Do we need add-on air purifiers？
Soon after I started making DIYs, people emailed me asking if we could make a DIY for their car. My initial reaction was, “Great idea!” On the highways, we’re surrounded by all of that awful pollution. Best to purify that air. But as a methodical nerd, I wanted to do some tests first. The results of […]
35 healthy Shanghai college students used a purifier for 48 hours. Here’s what happened to their bodies
There are two things we know about purifiers and one really important thing we don’t know. 1. We know that purifiers reduce PM2.5 Loads of tests have found this in labs and in real-world homes. I’ve tested the hell out of this, in my room, in bigger rooms, for 200 days of Beijing air, comparison tests against the […]