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 […]
Author: Thomas Talhelm
Thomas is a new Assistant Professor of Behavior Science at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and the founder of Smart Air, a social enterprise to help people in China breathe clean air without shelling out thousands of dollars for expensive purifiers.
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 […]
Does AC Bring in PM2.5?
It’s that time of year when Beijing is starting to sizzle, if this person roasting fish on her car is any indication. But air pollution isn’t taking a summer break here. It’s not airpocalypse levels, but the buildings nearby are starting to look fuzzy. That made me wonder. If […]
71% of People Don’t Know PM2.5 Lowest at This Time…
My intuition has always been that air pollution is lowest at night because there are fewer cars on the road and fewer factories humming. Apparently I’m not alone: 139 voted for their guess about what time of day has the lowest PM2.5, and night time came in first: I also know people who […]
Ozone Levels Rising Across China
As summer nears, levels of the invisible pollutant ozone are on the rise, becoming more serious than PM2.5 at times. Based on data analyzed by Smart Air, Beijing’s ozone levels are near peak in June–and nearly double the World Health Organization limit. Data analyzed by Smart Air shows Beijing’s ozone is near peak in […]
A good-looking purifier for 200RMB?
When I started Smart Air in 2013, I wanted to make purifiers cheaper. At that time, the cheapest I could find was over 4,000 RMB, and I started shipping people the humble DIY for 228RMB. But recently I’ve started seeing cheaper purifiers out there, like this Diqu purifier that costs 198RMB. First Impression I […]