Despite the popular conception that plants are purifiers, plants have detectable effect on particle or gas pollutants, according to the latest test data from real-world homes. Belief that plants are effective air purifiers is widespread. Arguably the most frequently cited evidence is the NASA study on plants. It feels scientific, authoritative. This page cites it, this page, this page. […]
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Is Air Pollution Affecting Your Productivity in the Office?
We know that air pollution is bad for our health, but if you’re not outdoors picking apples or running marathons in China, is pollution still making you unproductive at your indoor office job? Recent studies suggest the answer is yes. The studies on the effects of outdoor air pollution are no surprise to […]
What Would China’s Air Be Like If Everyone Stopped Driving?
The prestigious science publication Nature published a study that tested the air of Beijing, Xi’an, Shanghai, and Guangzhou to find out exactly what PM2.5 is made out of. They found that about 20% were chemicals like ammonium and chloride. Coal made up about 4% of PM2.5 in the different cities. From that composition, the researchers could estimate […]
Does Closing the Windows Starve Us of Oxygen?
Air purifiers work best in a closed room environment and this worries some who are concerned that there wouldn’t be enough oxygen coming in when all doors and windows are closed. Yet recent tests in a real apartment — with as many as seven people in a small room — show less than 1% change in oxygen […]
New Data Shows Beijing’s Air Pollution Progress Reverses in March
After several months of progress cutting PM2.5, Beijing saw a sharp reversal this March, according to the latest data. In years past, Beijing’s particulate pollution normally peaks in January and decreases each month closer to summer. However, this year has seen the exact opposite trend, with PM2.5 increasing 265% from January to March. […]
Truth or Bullshit: Eating Broccoli Protects Against Pollution
Although many natural remedies are based more on intuition than science, a surprisingly rigorous set of studies from different research labs is finding that eating broccoli helps our bodies fight the effects of air pollution. Scientists have isolated the compound thought to help the body remove pollutants like benzene and fight inflammation. The compound, sulforaphane, […]
Smog doesn’t kill like you think it does
The World Health Organization tallied up all the deaths due to outdoor air pollution based on different causes, and the major killer isn’t what most people think. Asthma, lung cancer, and emphysema come to mind when we think about air pollution. But lung problems are only a small portion of the deaths caused by air pollution. […]
Which Indian cities have the best air quality?
Which cities in India have the best and worst air pollution? I analyzed data from the World Health Organization’s database of annual particulate pollution (PM2.5) averages for 122 cities. Here’s what I found. Agra Through Mumbai 122 cities is too much for one graph, so I broke it in half. Here’s A through M from […]
Consumer rights day: CCTV performed spot checks on multiple FFUs, what they found is shocking
For those who don’t know, an FFU (stands for ‘fan filter unit’) is a type of large size air purifier. Originally created for industrial use, over the past few years FFUs have entered the home market in a big way. They’re a simple and low cost way of getting clean air out to more people. […]
Smart Air India is hiring. Come join our clean air mission!
Smart Air is looking for an HVAC design engineer with 2+ years of experience with HVAC installation and/or industrial air purifier installation. The selected candidate will work to build Smart Air’s presence in the large-scale HVAC purification sector, installing low-cost air purifications systems for schools, hospitals, and offices. Primary Responsibilities Manage Smart Air’s large-scale HVAC […]