While masks are in short supply during the coronavirus pandemic, the shortage is prompting people to ask if UV light disinfects masks. This is a critical question for frontline healthcare workers, as they scramble for ways to safely re-use masks. Here’s the problem. We know that UV-C light kills …
A Smart Air analysis of new air quality data Beijing’s PM2.5 pollution dropped 11% in 2019 from the year before. Combined with progress in earlier years, Beijing has cut its PM2.5 in half compared to 2014. Beijing’s improvement suggests that the 2013-2017 Clean Air Action Plan, with its tens of …
Can a simple fan and filter really make air purifiers that can clean large offices? Seven years ago, Smart Air started when PhD student Thomas strapped together a DIY air purifier to survive a polluted Beijing winter. Founder Thomas Talhelm‘s first DIY air purifier Thomas published test data on …
After launching the world’s most cost-effective purifier (the Sqair), we started testing the HEPA lifespan. I’ve long been skeptical of the lifespan numbers purifier companies give because (1) they provide no empirical justification for the number and (2) they give the same numbers in Switzerland or Delhi. Yet clearly the …
Scientific tests have found that simple pollution masks are incredibly effective, but how long do masks last? Most tests are done with brand new masks, so there’s very little data on used ones. And in that data vacuum, people have wildly different ideas about how masks remain effective. I’ve seen …
In 2013, I made a DIY purifier to get through an apocalyptic Beijing winter. The DIY wasn’t pretty, but it worked. Hundreds of days of tests showed it cut tiny 0.5 micron particles in my bedroom by an average of 84% (1, 2, 3). The DIY proved that …
As cities like Delhi, Beijing and Manila face toxic levels of air pollution, people are rushing to find effective pollution masks, particularly kid’s masks. But there’s a problem. Children’s faces are different from adults’. Add to that, children are constantly growing, meaning that the mask that fit last year might …
If you’ve heard about The Sqair, you should be suspicious. The Sqair puts out more clean air for less money AND it’s quieter AND more energy efficient? Either I’m lying, or there’s some logical reason how this is possible. There are three. 1. It helps my life become a little …
Here’s a radical idea: having one more app on my phone won’t make me happier. It feels like the world is rushing to app-ify everything these days. GPS and texting made my life a lot easier, but there’s a limit. The moment I saw this coffee mug, I knew we …
Planting trees to solve China’s air pollution would be a very ineffective way. Let me break down the effect of trees into (1) sucking up particulate and (2) giving particles a place to land. 1. How Much Particulate Air Pollution Do Trees Suck Up? Let’s talk about the most commonly …
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