After I shared my travel experience last week, a couple of readers reached out asking for more details on using a portable HEPA filter, essentially a small air filter that can be moved from one place to another. So, here are a few tips and resources.
A few days ago, my partner and I returned home from a two-week vacation to several cities in Europe. It was our first time traveling internationally since before the COVID-19 pandemic, and the trip required a lot of time on planes, on public transportation, and in crowded spaces.
This week, much of the eastern U.S. was inundated with wildfire smoke that traveled south from Canada. The smoke reminded us how important clean air is for our health. The same public health measures that help reduce COVID-19 risk can also reduce the impacts of wildfire smoke. High-quality masks filter out both the pollution in smoke and coronavirus particles at the individual level; ventilation improvements do this at the collective level.
Sources and updates for the week of May 14 include new CDC ventilation guidance, a Long COVID and ME/CFS demonstration, COVID-19 test prices, and more.
This Q&A with two cofounders of Community Access to Ventilation Information (CAVI) explores how the organization helps public libraries in Canada loan out CO2 monitors to patrons. In addition to the monitor-lending, CAVI develops educational materials to help library patrons use these tools and collaborates with other air quality initiatives.
Last week, I wrote about my experience with a CO2 monitor that I recently bought, and have been using to informally study the air quality in my New York City apartment. I asked readers to share their experiences with these monitors, and several of you did!
I recently bought a carbon dioxide monitor, and have been using it to collect data in my apartment and other places. In the week since I’ve been monitoring, I’ve noticed how personal data collection like this can be helpful in identifying ventilation issues, but comes with many caveats.