Month: May 2017

Ozone O3 an Air Pollutant

Sotirios PapathanasiouLeave a comment

The Ozone O3 is protecting us through the Ozone Shield from the harmful ultraviolet UV radiation when it is in the lower portion of the stratosphere at 20km to 30km above Earth. However it is a harmful gas for the respiratory system and it can cause serious health issues when it is inhaled in high consecration.

As a result we divide the Ozone in two categories, the Ozone Shield aka Good Ozone and the Ground Level Ozone aka Bad Ozone. Basically the Ground level Ozone is formatted by a combination of gases and the Sunlight.

VOCs + NOx + Heat + Sunlight = Ozone

 Breathing ozone O3 can trigger a variety of health problems, particularly for children, the elderly, and people of all ages who have lung diseases such as asthma. Ground level Ozone can also have harmful effects on sensitive vegetation and ecosystems.

Read more about air pollutants inside my book See The Air

Air Quality Devices – Comparison 2017 Q2

Sotirios Papathanasiou15 Comments

More and new devices on the market. From wearables to home AQI monitors are here to assist people’s needs. Remember air pollution is everywhere.

comparison air 2017 Q2

  • Prices may vary during time.
  • Some Companies don’t specify on their data sheet if their devices are capable to measure PM2.5 or PM10 and they just mention the word dust.
  • Some other companies say: Our product goes beyond CO₂ by analyzing substances that directly affect your well-being by measuring VOCs. They aren’t clear if their devices have CO₂ sensor.
  • Some of the devices are AQI Monitors and Air Purifiers Combo. On this list you can only read the features as an AQI monitor.
  • The classification of the design between Bad, Good and Very Good is based on the materials (plastic, wood, glass and metal) that they use and the aesthetic on my personal opinion.

CO2 Candles Experiment

Sotirios PapathanasiouLeave a comment

CO2 Candles Experiment

In this experiment I will demonstrate how fast Carbon Dioxide CO2 rises inside a room by lighting two small candles.

bedroomday1_0000 copy

I chose my study room as it can be easily isolated, plus I have got all the AQI monitors inside this room for the purpose of the experiment. The room is 7.3m². The experiment is easy, I lit 2 candles and closed the door and window of the room. Then I waiting with myself inside the room till the CO2 reached 1200ppm. Basically I logged the time when the CO2 was 430ppm and when it reached the 1200ppm with and without the candles.

With the candles the CO2 needed 35 minutes to reach the 1200ppm limit as you can see on the graph below and without any candle and with exactly the same conditions as before the CO2 needed 59 minutes to reach the upper limit.

Conclusion

You gain 25 minutes of more oxygen and less CO2 until the room reaches the 1200ppm limit which means more productive time and fewer headaches.

Gray Slate

Candles and Incense sources of Indoor Air Pollution

Sotirios Papathanasiou5 Comments

Candles and Incense sources of Indoor Air Pollution

They look nice and they smell even better, but unfortunately most of them are made of toxic ingredients and when you light them, they diffuse all these toxic ingredients inside your house.

Harmful VOCs

Most commercial candles are full of toxic ingredients that many times they don’t even write on the package like Paraffin, Acetone, Trichlorofluoromethane, Carbon Disulfide, 2-Butanone, Trichloroethane, Trichloroethene, Carbon Tetrachloride, Tetrachloroethene, Chlorobenzene, Ethylbenzene, Styrene, Xylene, Phenol, Cresol and Cyclopentene. Most of them are VOCs and the majority of the AQI monitors with VOC sensor will recognize the toxins in the air. Now, when paraffin burned releases toluene and benzene which are highly toxic and carcinogens (these fumes are the same as when diesel is burnt).Read More »