Re:Experiments on a $50 DIY air purifier (2020)
by fighterpilot on Thursday September 02, 2021 @03:00PM
(#28395956)
Might those numbers might be exaggerated a bit due to confounders? Specifically, the high density and traffic causing stress.
Re:Experiments on a $50 DIY air purifier (2020)
by dynm on Thursday September 02, 2021 @03:44PM
(#28396470)
It's entirely possible! But my perspective is that there's a very one-sided risk. It's extremely unlikely that particles are beneficial. Thus, given the uncertainty I think it's good decision theory to run a purifier, especially given how easy it is relative to other lifestyle changes that could plausibly have a benefit of the same magnitude.
By my estimates, a lifelong exposure to 33 µg/m³ rather than 0 µg/m³ would on average result in a loss of around 1 disability adjusted life year.
https://dynomight.net/air/#a-heuristic-to-quantify-harms
Obviously this is very hard to estimate and you shouldn't trust this as anything more than at most a rough order of magnitude estimate. But it does suggest that the ambient levels they are experiencing are worth reducing if you can do it easily.