4 ms·

Lets say I'm living in one of these areas ( and can't help it) besides wearing a kn95 when going out, is there anything that can be done?

Traubenfuchs 4y ago
Buy and maintain an air cleaner for your home. That's the one and only realistic change you can make.
- graeme 4y ago
  The average home in a mildly polluted area will actually generally have clean indoor air without filtration. Even with windows open. Don't ask me how this works, but I've verified it using a PM 2.5 monitor, a laseregg 2. With indoor and outdoor measurements on the same day. I recommend indoor filtration for other reasons (allergies, diseases, cutting down pollution from cooking). But if someone already isn't producing much cooking PM 2.5, an indoor filter won't actually cut their exposure much. A car with good filtration and a mask outdoors would be the most effective things one could do short of moving. Note that even lower quality masks such as surgical cut air pollution a fair bit. People somehow convinced themselves they have zero impact, because they lack perfect impact. Studies have found surgical masks generally cut over half of particles: https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/surgical-masks-surprisingly-effective-pm2-5/ https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/surgical-masks-surprisin...
  - Traubenfuchs 4y ago
    No one but the most concerned loonies are gonna start wearing a mask though and how do you select for a car with good filtration among the countless other decision parameters for a car?
    - alwa 4y ago
      One option, regardless of the car you choose, might be to seek out a high-efficiency aftermarket replacement when you change your cabin air filter. I went longer in life than I should have before I even realized I should be changing mine out every 15,000 miles or so in the first place.
    - graeme 4y ago
      It really depends where you live. What's the pm 2.5 in your city? Mine isn't high enough to worry about outdoor pollution, and if it was I would move. But people in high smog cities do wear masks. They have regular smog warnings too; people treat it like the weather. See this pre-pandemic article showing people wearing masks during a smog outbreak: https://www.ctvnews.ca/lifestyle/beijing-locals-don-colourful-face-masks-as-smog-hovers-over-city-1.2691234?cache= https://www.ctvnews.ca/lifestyle/beijing-locals-don-colourfu... For cars, I think the biggest factor is choosing a good filter and making sure it remains in good working order.
gniv 4y ago
Use an air purifier. I have a small one from a Korean company. I run it non-stop. It's very quiet normally, but when it detects higher concentration of stuff (almost always when I open a window) it spins up for a few minutes.
mschild 4y ago
When going outside? Probably very little unless you can overall reduce the pollution producing factors in your surrounding area. As for inside your home, there's a few things but the effectiveness will depend on your situation specifically. The US EPA has a good starting point with information. https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/indoor-air-quality-apartments https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/indoor-air-qualit...
graeme 4y ago
* Testing/replacing car air filter * Any mask outside. Even surgical can cut more than half of pm 2.5 * A lot of people recommending indoor filters, but indoor pollution generally a lot less than outdoors except when cooking. You can verify this with a PM 2.5 monitor. I do recommend indoor filters, but if budget is limited and you're working on overall lower pm 2.5 filters, testing car and getting masks is the more effective intervention Surgical mask source: https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/surgical-masks-surprisingly-effective-pm2-5/ https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/surgical-masks-surprisin... Best pm 2.5 monitor I found is a laseregg
- gniv 4y ago
  > indoor pollution generally a lot less than outdoors Why would that be? Unless you have central A/C with good filter, I don't see how indoor air would be cleaner.
  - graeme 4y ago
    Couldn't say. If I had to guess, a lot of ventilation happens through walls which act as a filter. Even window screens likely do. Regardless of reason, my AQI will regularly be 4-13 indoors when it is 38-54 outside, even if I have windows open. Note that this only covers PM 2.5, and not other stuff such as VOCs etc.
belorn 4y ago
As with most environmental issues, the best thing anyone can do is getting political active and create changes that reduces air pollution. Problem created by people acting as a social group (i.e. densely populated cities, power plants, factories, highways and so on) do not really have solutions that individuals can easily apply.
Tade0 4y ago
I live in an area that has harmful amounts on PM2.5 during the winter(80ug/m3+, double that a few days of the year). You'll need an air filter, but not just any other one - it has to be oversized for the living space and spin up at a low threshold - air filters commonly only actually start when the measurements indicate more than 25ug/m3. Also nice if it has an ionizer - my experience is that it generally increases effectiveness even though that's not exactly its purpose. Aside from that it's important to seal all windows properly. Even a large filter won't do much against draft.
- runnerup 4y ago
  > Also nice if it has an ionizer I'd be concerned that the ionizers generate trace ozone. Am I wrong about this?
  - Tade0 4y ago
    They do - no way around it which I would know of. I only experienced a whiff of ozone when I returned home after two weeks, with the device on all this time. Personally I only ever feel the irritating effect of elevated PM levels, so I keep the ionizer on. I definitely cough much less during a cold now, having the purifier, than before purchasing it.
p_j_w 4y ago
Vote for candidates who will do something about it.

Traubenfuchs 4y ago

Buy and maintain an air cleaner for your home. That's the one and only realistic change you can make.

graeme 4y ago
The average home in a mildly polluted area will actually generally have clean indoor air without filtration. Even with windows open. Don't ask me how this works, but I've verified it using a PM 2.5 monitor, a laseregg 2. With indoor and outdoor measurements on the same day. I recommend indoor filtration for other reasons (allergies, diseases, cutting down pollution from cooking). But if someone already isn't producing much cooking PM 2.5, an indoor filter won't actually cut their exposure much. A car with good filtration and a mask outdoors would be the most effective things one could do short of moving. Note that even lower quality masks such as surgical cut air pollution a fair bit. People somehow convinced themselves they have zero impact, because they lack perfect impact. Studies have found surgical masks generally cut over half of particles: https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/surgical-masks-surprisingly-effective-pm2-5/ https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/surgical-masks-surprisin...
- Traubenfuchs 4y ago
  No one but the most concerned loonies are gonna start wearing a mask though and how do you select for a car with good filtration among the countless other decision parameters for a car?
  - alwa 4y ago
    One option, regardless of the car you choose, might be to seek out a high-efficiency aftermarket replacement when you change your cabin air filter. I went longer in life than I should have before I even realized I should be changing mine out every 15,000 miles or so in the first place.
  - graeme 4y ago
    It really depends where you live. What's the pm 2.5 in your city? Mine isn't high enough to worry about outdoor pollution, and if it was I would move. But people in high smog cities do wear masks. They have regular smog warnings too; people treat it like the weather. See this pre-pandemic article showing people wearing masks during a smog outbreak: https://www.ctvnews.ca/lifestyle/beijing-locals-don-colourful-face-masks-as-smog-hovers-over-city-1.2691234?cache= https://www.ctvnews.ca/lifestyle/beijing-locals-don-colourfu... For cars, I think the biggest factor is choosing a good filter and making sure it remains in good working order.

gniv 4y ago

Use an air purifier. I have a small one from a Korean company. I run it non-stop. It's very quiet normally, but when it detects higher concentration of stuff (almost always when I open a window) it spins up for a few minutes.

mschild 4y ago

When going outside? Probably very little unless you can overall reduce the pollution producing factors in your surrounding area. As for inside your home, there's a few things but the effectiveness will depend on your situation specifically. The US EPA has a good starting point with information. https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/indoor-air-quality-apartments https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/indoor-air-qualit...

graeme 4y ago

* Testing/replacing car air filter * Any mask outside. Even surgical can cut more than half of pm 2.5 * A lot of people recommending indoor filters, but indoor pollution generally a lot less than outdoors except when cooking. You can verify this with a PM 2.5 monitor. I do recommend indoor filters, but if budget is limited and you're working on overall lower pm 2.5 filters, testing car and getting masks is the more effective intervention Surgical mask source: https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/surgical-masks-surprisingly-effective-pm2-5/ https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/surgical-masks-surprisin... Best pm 2.5 monitor I found is a laseregg

gniv 4y ago
> indoor pollution generally a lot less than outdoors Why would that be? Unless you have central A/C with good filter, I don't see how indoor air would be cleaner.
- graeme 4y ago
  Couldn't say. If I had to guess, a lot of ventilation happens through walls which act as a filter. Even window screens likely do. Regardless of reason, my AQI will regularly be 4-13 indoors when it is 38-54 outside, even if I have windows open. Note that this only covers PM 2.5, and not other stuff such as VOCs etc.

belorn 4y ago

As with most environmental issues, the best thing anyone can do is getting political active and create changes that reduces air pollution. Problem created by people acting as a social group (i.e. densely populated cities, power plants, factories, highways and so on) do not really have solutions that individuals can easily apply.

Tade0 4y ago

I live in an area that has harmful amounts on PM2.5 during the winter(80ug/m3+, double that a few days of the year). You'll need an air filter, but not just any other one - it has to be oversized for the living space and spin up at a low threshold - air filters commonly only actually start when the measurements indicate more than 25ug/m3. Also nice if it has an ionizer - my experience is that it generally increases effectiveness even though that's not exactly its purpose. Aside from that it's important to seal all windows properly. Even a large filter won't do much against draft.

runnerup 4y ago
> Also nice if it has an ionizer I'd be concerned that the ionizers generate trace ozone. Am I wrong about this?
- Tade0 4y ago
  They do - no way around it which I would know of. I only experienced a whiff of ozone when I returned home after two weeks, with the device on all this time. Personally I only ever feel the irritating effect of elevated PM levels, so I keep the ionizer on. I definitely cough much less during a cold now, having the purifier, than before purchasing it.

p_j_w 4y ago

Vote for candidates who will do something about it.