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If you go outside in NYC you should definitely be wearing an N95 or better. Avoid going out if you can. Current AQI here is 400+ aka "Hazardous". It's currently

If you go outside in NYC you should definitely be wearing an N95 or better. Avoid going out if you can. Current AQI here is 400+ aka "Hazardous". It's currently sunny at the park near me: https://imgur.com/a/DLhxEWL https://imgur.com/a/DLhxEWL

bobbylarrybobby 3y ago
Is there a significant difference between going outside and staying indoors in a home without any filtration?
- jxramos 3y ago
  yes, you'll find out first hand if you buy a PM2.5 meter and measure locally in your environment. We have a battery powered one we'd take on trips with us and in the car. Buy a Bosch HEPA cabin filter for your car too, it makes a measurable difference.
  - neogodless 3y ago
    Seems like a good meter? I can't find any reliable indicator of which might be worth the trouble.
    - jxramos 3y ago
      yah it's hard to verify whether or not the thing has true absolute accuracy. However once I started experimenting in real world scenarios where I was able to corroborate my own subjective interpretation of my senses the numbers did correlate and scale proportionally as hoped. When it was noticeably smoky outside the numbers registered high, the higher the smoke smell the numbers reflected proportionally so. I would do experiments like vacuuming and seeing what showed up. Cooking with smoke being generated, the numbers would grow. Mine has some VOC mode too, when I took the thing to the gas station that number went way up which was pretty illuminating how much VOCs we breathe in at the pump. Another angle to the experimentation was with and without the HEPA filter being ran. When smoke would infiltrate the indoor numbers would be like 10 or 12. Run the HEPA for say 20 min the numbers get down to 2 or 3. To me that thing was doing what I expected and served us well in the wildfires.
    - slaw 3y ago
      I bought smartmi PM 2.5 meter 6 months ago. It is very simple just power button, brightness and display. I watched YouTube video where it was positively reviewed. https://a.aliexpress.com/_EIjHR2h https://a.aliexpress.com/_EIjHR2h
maxerickson 3y ago
I'm pretty sure I was smelling the smoke when the AQI here was ~30 yesterday.
- diebeforei485 3y ago
  Some AQI measures are not realtime. You were probably looking at a 24-hour average like airnow.gov or something (as opposed to something like PurpleAir which is realtime)
rcme 3y ago
What is the “hazard” though? Is going outside really that much worse than hanging within a few feet of a campfire for hours? Obviously PM 2.5 is bad, but the actual amount of hazard from acute exposure hasn’t been contextualized, for me at least.
- nickjj 3y ago
  I know nothing about this subject but if these fires uncontrollably burn through land, they're not going to show mercy for anything in their path. A controlled campfire has wood and leaves. A large scale fire could burn up really bad material like rubber and other things that emit chemicals.
- DiscourseFan 3y ago
  >Is going outside really that much worse than hanging within a few feet of a campfire for hours? It's more like you're surrounded by campfires except there are no fires, only smoke, and no way of turning away or escaping from it.
  - rcme 3y ago
    Ok sure, but that’s not really answering the question of whether or not acute exposure to campfires is worse than acute exposure to wildfire smoke.
    - crazygringo 3y ago
      I've never found myself coughing next to campfires or BBQ's. Today (NYC) I went outside briefly and started coughing within a couple of minutes, and then my eyes started watering. It's nothing like being by a campfire. It's way worse. Campfire smoke goes straight up, or if it's windy nobody stands with the smoke blowing directly in their face for minutes/hours.
    - ssnistfajen 3y ago
      Acute exposure is generally a concern for individuals with respiratory conditions e.g. asthma.

bobbylarrybobby 3y ago

Is there a significant difference between going outside and staying indoors in a home without any filtration?

jxramos 3y ago
yes, you'll find out first hand if you buy a PM2.5 meter and measure locally in your environment. We have a battery powered one we'd take on trips with us and in the car. Buy a Bosch HEPA cabin filter for your car too, it makes a measurable difference.
- neogodless 3y ago
  Seems like a good meter? I can't find any reliable indicator of which might be worth the trouble.
  - jxramos 3y ago
    yah it's hard to verify whether or not the thing has true absolute accuracy. However once I started experimenting in real world scenarios where I was able to corroborate my own subjective interpretation of my senses the numbers did correlate and scale proportionally as hoped. When it was noticeably smoky outside the numbers registered high, the higher the smoke smell the numbers reflected proportionally so. I would do experiments like vacuuming and seeing what showed up. Cooking with smoke being generated, the numbers would grow. Mine has some VOC mode too, when I took the thing to the gas station that number went way up which was pretty illuminating how much VOCs we breathe in at the pump. Another angle to the experimentation was with and without the HEPA filter being ran. When smoke would infiltrate the indoor numbers would be like 10 or 12. Run the HEPA for say 20 min the numbers get down to 2 or 3. To me that thing was doing what I expected and served us well in the wildfires.
  - slaw 3y ago
    I bought smartmi PM 2.5 meter 6 months ago. It is very simple just power button, brightness and display. I watched YouTube video where it was positively reviewed. https://a.aliexpress.com/_EIjHR2h https://a.aliexpress.com/_EIjHR2h

maxerickson 3y ago

I'm pretty sure I was smelling the smoke when the AQI here was ~30 yesterday.

diebeforei485 3y ago
Some AQI measures are not realtime. You were probably looking at a 24-hour average like airnow.gov or something (as opposed to something like PurpleAir which is realtime)

rcme 3y ago

What is the “hazard” though? Is going outside really that much worse than hanging within a few feet of a campfire for hours? Obviously PM 2.5 is bad, but the actual amount of hazard from acute exposure hasn’t been contextualized, for me at least.

nickjj 3y ago
I know nothing about this subject but if these fires uncontrollably burn through land, they're not going to show mercy for anything in their path. A controlled campfire has wood and leaves. A large scale fire could burn up really bad material like rubber and other things that emit chemicals.
DiscourseFan 3y ago
>Is going outside really that much worse than hanging within a few feet of a campfire for hours? It's more like you're surrounded by campfires except there are no fires, only smoke, and no way of turning away or escaping from it.
- rcme 3y ago
  Ok sure, but that’s not really answering the question of whether or not acute exposure to campfires is worse than acute exposure to wildfire smoke.
  - crazygringo 3y ago
    I've never found myself coughing next to campfires or BBQ's. Today (NYC) I went outside briefly and started coughing within a couple of minutes, and then my eyes started watering. It's nothing like being by a campfire. It's way worse. Campfire smoke goes straight up, or if it's windy nobody stands with the smoke blowing directly in their face for minutes/hours.
  - ssnistfajen 3y ago
    Acute exposure is generally a concern for individuals with respiratory conditions e.g. asthma.