Bangkok Air Pollution

[JimShorts]

The air in Bangkok has gotten really bad again these last few days. I am getting readings of well over 150ppg yesterday and today. In general, this year seems much much worse then last year. This level of pollution did not exist for this long last year.

 

It has now been over 5 months now of consistently dangerous air, with very few breaks. 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

1 hour ago, JimShorts said:

The air in Bangkok has gotten really bad again these last few days. I am getting readings of well over 150ppg yesterday and today. In general, this year seems much much worse then last year. This level of pollution did not exist for this long last year.

 

 

Jim, when you say 150 ppg, I'm guessing you're meaning/talking about the AQI readings for BKK lately, which have been above 150 at times. But that kind of AQI number translates into actual readings of PM2.5 in micrograms of about 55, which is the kind of number most PM2.5 sensors would display.

 

The red bar spikes indicate an AQI reading of 151 or above in the chart below:

 

 

[utalkin2me]

I really am surprised that article that states the air in Beijing can be as bad as smoking over 40 cigarettes a day. That absolutely blows me away.

 

 

[JimShorts]

19 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

Jim, when you say 150 ppg, I'm guessing you're meaning/talking about the AQI readings for BKK lately, which have been above 150 at times. But that kind of AQI number translates into actual readings of PM2.5 in micrograms of about 55, which is the kind of number most PM2.5 sensors would display.

 

The red bar spikes indicate an AQI reading of 151 or above in the chart below:

 

 

Correct. My sensor has been reading 45-85 micrograms the last few days. Which translates to 124-166 ppg I believe.

[JimShorts]

14 hours ago, utalkin2me said:

I really am surprised that article that states the air in Beijing can be as bad as smoking over 40 cigarettes a day. That absolutely blows me away.

 

 

Air pollution is one of the top killers in many parts of the world...

http://berkeleyearth.org/air-pollution-and-cigarette-equivalence/

 

It is a serious problem, compounded by the fact very few people are conscious of just how bad it is. What is even more insane, I have heard many people say they won't wear a mask because they want to build up their immune system... SMH

 

[edwardandtubs]

I thought last night's downpour might be the start of a period of cleaner air but now the pollution is back as bad as ever. 

[ExpatOilWorker]

2 minutes ago, edwardandtubs said:

I thought last night's downpour might be the start of a period of cleaner air but now the pollution is back as bad as ever. 

There is and have been no wind in Bangkok for the past 3-4 months. We need the monsoon winds to blow it all up north.

Usually Bangkok can be quiet windy, even stormy at times.

 

Northern Europe is still covered in snow in early April. The weather is strange.

[balo]

Hey guys and gals, 

 

I just received my new PM 2.5 detector from SNDWAY .

 

I just turned it on and inside my condo I get a reading of 34 to 38 ug/m3.   So is this the same scale as AIQ 34-38 ?  

 

 AIQ 0-50 is considered safe ? 

 

 

 

[balo]

Actually the reading went down to 29-33 when I went into the bedroom . 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

5 minutes ago, balo said:

I just received my new PM 2.5 detector from SNDWAY .

 

I just turned it on and inside my condo I get a reading of 34 to 38 ug/m3.   So is this the same scale as AIQ 34-38 ? 

NO!!!!  Sensor reading is micrograms of PM2.5. AQI scale is entirely different scale of numbers.

 

Quote

 AIQ 0-50 is considered safe ?

 

Sensor readings in micrograms:

0-12 mcg is good

12-35 mcg OK

35+ mcg going downhill

 

Below is the AQI scale of numbers. But I've added in the corresponding microgram numbers that equate to what your sensor will show.

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

1 minute ago, balo said:

Actually the reading went down to 29-33 when I went into the bedroom . 

 

Interesting...  When I come home here in BKK these days and turn on my sensor -- with no air con and no purifier on -- I usually get sensor readings between 25 and 35 mcg, and usually closer to 35 mcg.

 

[balo]

So mcg is the same as ug/m3 ?

[balo]

Okay if it's the same I have to stay under 35 then , thanks. 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

1 minute ago, balo said:

So mcg is the same as ug/m3 ?

 

micrograms per cubic meter, I think...  Gets written different ways. That's the standard measuring reference for PM2.5 levels, and the number your sensor will show.

 

And then there's a conversion scale that takes those micrograms of PM2.5 and converts them into AQI numbers.

 

https://www.airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=airnow.calculator

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

1 minute ago, balo said:

Okay if it's the same I have to stay under 35 then , thanks. 

 

 

My personal goal is to stay under 12 mcg these days...

 

I figure, I'm going to try to make up for the past decade of breathing c**p here every day with no mask and no air purifier. Give my lungs a break, hopefully!

 

But that's me...

[balo]

Ok so this is the conversion 

 

Revised PM2.5 AQI breakpoints

AQI Category	Index Values	Revised Breakpoints (µg/m3, 24-hour average)
Moderate	51 - 100	12.1 – 35.4
Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups	101 – 150	35.5 – 55.4
Unhealthy	151 – 200	55.5 – 150.4
Very Unhealthy	201 – 300	150.5 – 250.4

[balo]

Okay,  outside on my balcony I get around 38-40  (23rd floor , Pattaya ) 

 

[balo]

Thats weird, I turned it on and off and now I get a reading of 22 - 25 inside the bed room ???? 

 

Is there some sort of calibration I need to do ? Instructions are only in Chinese! 

 

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

No calibration on the Sndway model that I'm aware of, and mine came with an instruction sheet in EN.

 

But, I have noticed, when I turn the unit on in a room, it usually seems to start out with a reading around 35, and then if the actual air is cleaner, then starts pretty quickly adjusting downward in a minute or two.

 

Whenever I'm turning the sensor ON from being totally off, I usually watch the readout for the first few minute until it stabilizes at whatever level.

 

[edwardandtubs]

3 minutes ago, balo said:

Thats weird, I turned it on and off and now I get a reading of 22 - 25 inside the bed room ???? 

 

Is there some sort of calibration I need to do ? Instructions are only in Chinese! 

 

 

 

It's not that weird that there maybe some fluctuation in the readings.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

12 minutes ago, balo said:

 Instructions are only in Chinese!

 

See what happens when you order from China instead of Thailand? 

 

Sndway SW-825 instruction sheet in English:

[balo]

8 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Whenever I'm turning the sensor ON from being totally off, I usually watch the readout for the first few minute until it stabilizes at whatever level.

That's it then , thanks. 

I am happy to report that inside my bed room , no air con , reading has stabilized down to 17-20 .    

 

When I took it outside again , on the balcony , it increased up to 40 wothin a minute.  Took it back inside again to the bedroom , and down to 17-20 .  

 

So it seems to do the job. 

 

 

 

 

 

[balo]

Thanks for instructions in English 

 

So the set button was for the alarm , good to know. 

 

[balo]

14 to 16 now !! 

 Inside my bed room I have a Hitachi model EP-A3000 filter, maybe that actually helps !  Since reading is lower inside bed room than out in the living space . 

 

 

 

[balo]

And now : 10 - 12   

Very happy about that  , I did not expect such a low reading .  

 

 

[balo]

Okay another experiment , switched on the air-con unit , I just had it cleaned last week .  In the bed room . 

 

Closed the door , reading went down to 5 and 6  .   

How does that compare to you folks in Bangkok ? 

  

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

6 minutes ago, balo said:

Okay another experiment , switched on the air-con unit , I just had it cleaned last week .  In the bed room . 

 

Closed the door , reading went down to 5 and 6  .   

How does that compare to you folks in Bangkok ? 

  

 

Do you mean those numbers running the AC only in the bedroom, or running the AC along with your Hitachi purifier?

 

In my bedroom, with the purifier running on medium and the air con running with Filtrete sheets on its filters, the two together will take my bedroom down to 5-6 mcg during the daytime, and even lower down to 0-1 mcg late into the night around midnight and after.

 

With the bedroom air con running ONLY with Filtrete sheets on its filters, without the purifier, the AC unit will bring the levels in my bedroom during the daytime into the 10-12 mcg range... But won't go much lower than that unless I also run the purifier.

[balo]

39 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Do you mean those numbers running the AC only in the bedroom, or running the AC along with your Hitachi purifier?

Yes , that's right , both together. That's how I sleep . 

After running for 10 minutes the lowest I got was 4. 

 

The Hitachi unit is always on , AC I only use at night.   And I do not use any extra filters in the AC , as you guys. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[edwardandtubs]

One problem is that you don't really know how accurate your monitors are. Smartair published a comparison of the inbuilt xiaomi monitor with some high-quality monitors and the Xiaomi one was wildly inaccurate.

[edwardandtubs]

Having posted the above, I still look forward to receiving my Sndway as it uses the same laser technology as the more expensive models. However, the built in monitor of the cheap Lazada air purifier mentioned in the other thread is unlikely to be at all accurate.