With wildfire smoke season here, we all need to think about air quality inside where we spend most of our time. This article provides multiple examples measuring the air quality inside my home from wildfire smoke and cooking.
It was a serious PITA to get our induction cooktop — we had to get an electrician and someone to cut our granite countertop—but every time I see one of these articles, I'm so glad we did. And lots of folks won't have all the trouble that we did.
Clean Air Club💙: UVC lights & HEPA filters offer Covid safe shows & spaces for musicians. This common sense approach should be mainstreamed for indoor spaces around the world. Research shows that HEPA filters can reduce the aerosol concentration of COVID by 99% after 35 minutes. A paper in the ‘Viruses’ journal concluded that far-UVC lights “can effectively kill pathogens with potentially no harm to exposed human tissues. #CovidIsAirborne#IndoorAirQuality#IAQ#Covidhttps://www.teenvogue.com/story/clean-air-club-organizing-covid-safer-shows
I’ve always been interested in monitoring indoor Air Quality. I think the itch to monitor indoor Air Quality grew over the years as the wild fires started getting worse, here in California. I even have a dedicated Watch (Apple) face that includes the Air Quality Index (AQI) complication.
Indoor Air Quality
Monitoring air quality typically includes monitoring Carbon dioxide (CO2), Particulate Matter (PM2.5 – represents particles that <= 2.5 microns in diameter), Temperature, Humidity, and Total Volatile Organic Compounds (TVOC). Some monitors include a few other stats, but these are more common.
There are many monitors available online that monitor these. Most of them are either bulky, wired, fugly, or just inaccurate.
After some research, earlier this year, I found 2 very good indoor air quality monitors.
One is from Awair, called the Element. It monitors all of the above, but it’s wired. Even though it looks cool, it’s slightly bigger than what I wanted. So, I went with the other one that I liked, the SAF Aranet4 Home.
This one is wireless, replaceable battery operated (2 AAs), has a cool E Ink display but it doesn’t include PM2.5/TVOC monitoring. It’s apparently quite accurate and the best part is that it’s tiny.
1000 ppm to 1400 ppm – brain cognitive function decreases by 15%
> 1400 ppm – brain cognitive function decreases by 50%
CO2 levels are expressed in ppm – parts per million
So yeah, I was shocked to know we were living in conditions where we had 50% less brain cognitive function. Maybe this explains all the dumb shit I do ☺️
One way I could think of lowering this number was by improving ventilation and that’s by opening up the windows and doors. This improved the CO2 level very quickly. After monitoring it for a couple of days, I’ve gathered the CO2 data and how proper ventilation affects the value.
The green region shows an uptick and that’s because I moved the monitor into the hall. Opening bedroom windows seemed to lower the overall indoor CO2.
Possible ways to improve indoor CO2/Air Quality
There are a number of solutions to fix different aspects of indoor air quality.
Improving ventilation – Simplest way is to open the windows and balcony/patio doors to let the air circulate around. I’ve been using this technique and it has been working wonders.
Air Purifier – These are not cheap, at least the good ones. These are great when the outside air quality is poor or during winters, when you can’t really open your windows while it’s cold outside.
Indoor Plants – Plants need CO2 to function. Naturally, these are great to help improve indoor CO2 levels.
Replace AC’s Air filters – Replace air filters to improve your indoor air quality.
I suspect my home AC’s air filters. They might need to be replaced. I will monitor the data from my sensor for another week and see if it indeed does require a replacement. I will report back my findings soon.
In the past, I tried using a PM2.5 monitor with my Raspberry Pi. It worked wonders but having the Pi run all the time seemed like a hassle for this use case.
Now reading about asthma. 1/10 of the world's children has asthma or its symptoms. Australia has one of the highest rates of childhood asthma, topping out at approximately 30% followed closely by New Zealand. It's eye opening, #MouldInBuildings#IndoorAirQuality
Australia: "COVID still a threat for elderly at Christmas."🇦🇺
“So, unfortunately, the more social you are, the more likely you are to catch the virus... but you can still take precautions such as ensuring good hand hygiene and wearing a mask in public" Prof Frawley
Indeed, where are the RTCs on each #Covid variant?
Or does #OccamsRazor have Covid and flu particles in the air treated like other aerosol particles and that is why #IndoorAirQuality regulations have saved the life of hundreds of thousands by preventing them getting infected?
Wait, what? We dont have #IAQ regs and millions have died?
😪
Tell me why again?
Typical CDC! It issued an “official health advisory” to healthcare providers that “Low vaccination rates, coupled with ongoing increases in national and international respiratory disease activity caused by multiple pathogens, including influenza viruses, SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes #COVID19), and RSV, could lead to more severe disease and increased healthcare capacity strain in the coming weeks.”
But it tells the public: Wear “a well-fitting mask if you choose to wear a mask.” Why “if”?!?
I note that the advice to providers holds that low vaccination rates could lead to more severe disease and more strain. Nothing about low levels of masking and the absence of #IndoorAirQuality regulations leading to more disease and more strain.
As for the trash advice to the public:
I think there is are deeply held, irrational beliefs in some medical circles around #ManySeriousDiseasesAreAirborne.
Jiminez and Jonathan have pointed at instances. i.e. The Cochrane Review on Masks.
We should have known. It took a deadly pandemic to wake us all up.
This view of #ViralIllnesses and their potential long-term impacts may lead to research that will also help people with other little understood conditions, such as #ChronicFatigue syndrome and #fibromyalgia, which experts believe might be triggered by viral infections, Al-Aly said. #COVID
I had #LongFlu (being very fatigued or otherwise debilitated for more than one month after catching the flu) three times in the ?six years before Covid arrived.
The ongoing denial of the spread in the air of serious debilitating and lethal diseases by a small sub-section of the medical profession is a #scandal. #Cochrane did #MaskingDenial. Others have done similar.
This sort of thing is AIUI absent from #AgedCare facilities, doctor's waiting rooms, classrooms, government department and corporate offices.
Looks clear that it was absolutely necessary with the annual influenza before 2020.
That there are no #IndoorAirQuality regulations now at the end of 2023 is ... concerning? a betrayal? a gauge on corporate power?
🇳🇿 New Zealand: COVID-19 still NZ's 'biggest infectious disease problem' - Epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker
"Every time you are infected and re-infected, you run all of these additional risks, and we are worried about the mounting burden of long COVID. This is different from the way say influenza pandemics behave," he said.
The article continues along the usual lethal path.
Last paragraph:
Scientist: "So I do think as a society, we need to be taking a lot more precautions to decrease the risk of catching this virus over and over again."
Capable Interviewer, with adequate grasp of issues, "You've spoken already about vaccination. Are you now calling for increased masking and #IndoorAirQuality regulations for transport, businesses and schools?"
Update on my partner, he's still positive (day 9 of positive tests, day 10 since symptoms, and 12 days since exposure). He's starting to feel a little better, cold-like symptoms remain and immense fatigue. He'll continue isolating until he's had two negative tests 48 hours apart.
In other news, today was an exciting day for me. All booked for my #Novavax COVID shot! I had to wait 90 days from my previous positive test in August, per epidemiological recommendations, and I have to drive 45 minutes to the nearest location that carries it, but I'm looking forward to the protection it'll offer before the next surge.
Stay #COVIDSMART:
🛌 Isolate when showing symptoms or testing [+]
😷 Wear N95s indoors
🫧 Disinfect frequently-touched surfaces
👐 Clean hands regularly
🪟 Open windows
🔲 Air purifiers & HEPA filters
🧪 Test (swabbing throat and nose on RAT) & report +C19 cases to @makemytestcount
It always feels good to freshen the air in our apartment after a day of A/C use with the windows all closed up.
Windows were closed around noon, we left for a bit around 5PM, and then just after 7 two guests joined us and I did some cooking on our gas stove. They left a little before 10PM.
The windows opened up a little after 7AM.
While the air is now more sticky in here, it’s nice to get an infusion of fresh air!
Full readings from my time at the PCP this week. Not good - especially in a known COVID surge in MA - better ventilation, HEPA (merv 13) filters, and masking would go miles in protecting your staff and patients from acquired illness at your facilities.
**Outdoors, CO2 levels are 400-475 ppm. Above 800 ppm, at least 1% of your air is “shared” - meaning you're breathing in exhaled air. CO2 levels above 1,000 ppm is a sign there are elevated risks of potential virus transmission for everyone in the room. Spaces with multiple occupants should aim for 600 ppm to prevent cross-infection.
I was stoked about the arrival of my #Atmotube air quality monitor to detect smoke where we travel. That is, until I saw the unconscionable gaslighting kicking off this blog post:
Kinderärzte-Verband warnt vor Grippewelle im Winter
Wir müssen uns darauf einstellen, auch in diesem Winter wieder eine schwere Influenzawelle zu bekommen, sagt der Berufsverband der Kinder- und Jugendärzte. Dafür gebe es "ein sicheres Alarmzeichen".
Now that the #purpleair in #eugeneoregon is over 100 and my kids' camps are getting canceled it's time to start bugging the school district about what their plan for fall is (as in they didn't have one last year beside just closing the ventilation and windows so kids could catch covid instead). Anyway, this will be a thread of my references.
Does anyone know about ventilation in cars? The CO2 in my work vehicle was reaching 3000ppm despite having the fan constant (and was not set to recirculate). Definitely showing pattern I just don’t understand and seems like engineered cycle. #CO2#CO2Monitor#CO2Monitoring#AirQuality#IndoorAir#IndoorAirQuality#Engineering
Ontario School Safety has sent an open letter to @fordnation, @sflecce, @SylviaJonesMPP, @MonteMcNaughton, and Ontario’s CMOH, outlining our requests for improvements to #IndoorAirQuality in schools and on school buses. This is just the beginning.
For the first time, CDC has set a minimum ventilation target -5 air changes per hour (ACH) for all occupied indoor spaces and released new and updated guidance on ventilation in buildings: