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 […]
Category: Air Pollution
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 […]
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 […]
After Best January on Record, Beijing PM2.5 Worsens
After best January on record, China’s air pollution worsens An analysis by Smart Air of data from pollution stations found that, after Beijing’s best year on record, PM2.5 levels are now worse than 2017. Data from 11 other major cities showed similar trends. Beijing Compared to the first half of 2017, this […]
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 […]
Are Cheap Particle Counters Accurate?
When I first started making DIY purifiers, the particle counters I could buy were a US$260 Dylos or crazily expensive particle counters that costed thousands of dollars. Since then, the market has exploded with new particle counters as cheap as 99 RMB. But are they any good? Putting Particle Counters to the Test To […]