Bad Air: Strategies For Surviving The Next Carbonic Night
Preparing for the unexpected is now expected.
Suddenly, we’re checking the air quality index like our lives depend on it. And it does. This month, millions of people, especially those on the east coast of the United States, experienced an unparalleled exposure to smoke-filled air thanks to raging forest fires in Quebec. On June 7th in New York City, the AQI was 484 on a scale of 500. Overnight, New York City had the worst air quality in the world. Some disaster specialists call this the carbonic night. That’s when a catastrophic fire blots out the sun for days on end.
We shouldn’t have been surprised. The devastating 2018 Camp Fire in California was a harbinger of things to come as smoke from that fire wafted across the continental Unites States. By now, we’re starting to recognize smoky air by the changing light coming through our closed windows. What makes wildfires especially toxic is the man-made materials from homes and vehicles that get swept up in the burn.
Frankly, it’s time to think about an air purifier as a staple for your home. Many of us thought of air purifiers as a Covid cleaner but that concern has died down and so did interest in air purifiers. Some of us thought the Camp Fire was a one-off but Quebec disproved that notion. My money says that an event like the Quebec fires is bound to happen again. And then again.
You can build your own air purifier using a 20-inch box fan, four Merv 13 air filters, some cardboard, and a lot of duct tape for about $100 in materials. The contraption is called a Corsi-Rosenthal box and it’s surprisingly effective in removing smoke particles. Free instructions on how to build a CR box are at: engineering.ucdavis.edu
Numerous companies now offer air purifiers. Models with HEPA filters that also snag virus-sized particles are the gold standard. Admittedly, many air purifiers have the aesthetics of a kitchen garbage can. If design is an issue, then check out the futuristic-looking air purifiers from Dyson. The good looks come at a premium but its air purifiers are highly rated. Dyson thinks we need air purifying headgear that also lets us listen to our apocalyptic playlist. So they are are all in on this subject.(www.dyson.com)
Indoor monitoring of air quality also is getting easier even as it becomes more sophisticated. Airthings, for example, has an app that allows you to monitor indoor air quality as measured by its products with detailed, color-coded graphics. This monitoring includes threats like radon build-up in the basement.
Another option: indoor plants. Research by the University Technology Sydney in Australia indicates that indoor plants can help remove very troublesome volatile organic compounds (VOG) from the air but you’ll probably need a lot of them for this to be effective. Still, it can’t hurt and they will absorb some carbon dioxide out of the air. And as we all know now, that’s a good thing. And the plants may help you stay in a good mood even in murky daylight.