Showing posts with label Air Purifiers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Air Purifiers. Show all posts

Thursday, October 31, 2024

Thinking Air Purifiers Will Solve Air Pollution Problem is Disingenuous and a Waste of Important Resources


There are many ideas to improve air quality. Some of them have been tossed around for a couple of decades now. An action plan the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) published in 1997 found its way after 20 years into the hands of the Delhi government.

These are not overnight solutions. They include improving infrastructure, urban transport and solid waste management. As a result, it requires patience, long-term planning, interdepartmental cooperation and, most importantly, joint action by all political parties, since the implementation and outcomes can have a considerable time lag. All straightforward – but not simple to pull off.

This is why technological gimmicks that promise overnight improvements without any reduction in emissions, systemic policy changes or infrastructural improvement are bound to be disingenuous, and a waste of important resources. And this is exactly what the multiple proposals to install air purifiers at intersections to reduce ambient air pollution are.

We cannot improve air pollution by sucking pollutants out of the atmosphere. The only way to control pollution is by controlling pollutants entering the atmosphere – i.e. by controlling emissions.

Full article @ theWIRE

Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Health Conscious residents Assemble in Shanghai to Share Ideas for Low-cost DIY Purifiers

Over the past several weeks, numerous cities across China have been blanketed with severe industrial smog. The year's very first Red Alert for heavy air pollution was issued in Beijing just three days into 2017, followed by a 212-hour Orange Alert. After making domestic and international headlines for its toxic smog, concerned Chinese citizens have been heatedly discussing and debating clean-air alternatives in lieu of any enforcement of government regulations.

For those who can afford costly air purifying machines, which can be as expensive as 10,000 yuan ($1,443), the solution is relatively simple. But is shelling out big bucks the only way to keep our air at home and the workplace fresh? Social enterprise Smart Air Filters recently held a workshop in Shanghai to inform residents with limited budgets about alternative DIY (do it yourself) options.

At the one-hour workshop, Noah Willingham, South China Head of Smart Air Filters, revealed that their company's founder, Thomas Talhelm, figured out that the primary components of a standard air purifier are nothing more than a fan and a High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filter.

Willingham explained that Talhelm purchased an average HEPA filter on Taobao, and then strapped the filter to a fan. The total cost was less than 300 yuan, and to his surprise this home-made purifier was just as effective in reducing PM (particulate matter) as the most costly machines.

At the workshop, Willingham brought the same HEPA filter along with a standard fan and installed the parts together in front of the audience to show how easy it is. He then used a PM counter to test the air quality around the filter, which was dramatically lower than elsewhere in the room.

Despite the low-price of a HEPA filter, some audience members pointed out that DIY air purifiers have minor disadvantages. For instance, 40-year-old Peng Peng said that the crude appearance of a DIY air filter doesn't suit her aesthetic tastes and is also quite noisy, which would affect her sleep.

Others pointed out that common houseplants such as the Snake Plant (Mother-in-Law's Tongue), palms, ferns and pothos (Devil's Ivy) are each very helpful in filtering out PM from household air. Indeed, many Shanghai-based consulates and corporations are now installing vertical "green walls" in their offices as natural alternatives to expensive, mechanized air filters.

Read the full article @ Global Times