I wouldn’t be as concerned about the time that you spend outside but rather the time that you spend inside. I feel a considerably difference if I simply open the windows for several days. Keep closed up, get an air filter for the apt and keep your apt clean. You should probably also get a dehumidifier since mold can be a problem in northern Taiwan in the winter.
I already discovered the mold problem and got a dehumidifier- after my entire apartment molded, the landlord wouldn’t do anything about it, I sterilized everything and found a new place.
I’ve seen a lot of talk about Taipei and Taizhong here but nothing so far about Hsinchu. On the link here (reposted from above), it looks much worse than here- at least, today it shows 25-50 with lots clustered around 30-35 for Taipei, but 45 at a station just next to where I’ll be working in Hsinchu. Does anyone know if this is generally the trend?
Also, thanks for the suggestions- please give as many practical ideas for limiting pollution exposure while living in Taiwan as possible! Unfortunately, I can’t move east… This is a serious concern for me and I want to decrease my exposure to the pollution as much as possible after what I experienced as a result of my time in China!
A related article from the Taipei Times today, claiming that more than 20% of Taipei first-graders have asthma, and 50% have allergic rhinitis:
taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/ … 2003561587
For comparison’s sake, about 9.5% of US children have asthma (according to the CDC).
I’ve never really thought too much about the air quality in Taipei, but I’ve been in the US for 4 months now and have yet to have an upper respiratory infection or any allergy issues (a constant battle for me in Taiwan)–and my children seem to have been breathing easier as well. Makes me think as we’re getting ready to return to Taiwan soon.
So, how about that air quality today? Opened up the windows this morning, and said “Wow, it smells like Taiwan today!” My neighbours totally got what I was talking about. The haze was pretty bad. Probably still is. Anyone know why it’s so particularly bad today? (Here in Neihu at least).
The short answer- it’s going into Winter. The air pollution is always worse this time of year, and Spring too, from my recollection.
So are there any known ways to get clean air inside your apartment? And measure it? As someone who spends 95% of their time indoors, this can easily solve most air pollution hazards.
Excellent question. What can we do? Air filters -Honeywell? Plants? Which ones?
Use hepa filter purification systems, they should help with some of it. I have one and the air does seem to be ‘fresher’ but there’s no way to tell for sure.
But you should be wary of sealing your apartment off too much, as I doubt that is too healthy for you either, lots of apartments here have mould and the plastics in your house release formaldehyde continually (so choose your days to seal off).
After some research, it seems HEPA is designed to filter 0.3µm and larger particles. ULPA blocks 0.12µm and up. The latter seems much more rare. As for measuring the pollution, there’s this little gadget, but with that price tag I’d need some reviews first.
After looking at the map, it looks like 墾丁 is consistently clean despite the season. I’ll keep a close watch on it.
Just as important (or more so) is cleaning up the dust from every little ledge and nook and cranny. I wash the bedding weekly at a minimum and my sofa (an IKEA futon) has a cover that can be washed. The air filter helps also. Cats do not…
[quote=“headhonchoII”]Use hepa filter purification systems, they should help with some of it. I have one and the air does seem to be ‘fresher’ but there’s no way to tell for sure.
But you should be wary of sealing your apartment off too much, as I doubt that is too healthy for you either, lots of apartments here have mould and the plastics in your house release formaldehyde continually (so choose your days to seal off).[/quote]
What I do is I air out my room for a couple hours before I go to bed, and when I get ready for bed, I close the window and turn on my air purifier and leave it on all night. So the air in my room is both fresh and clean.
How do I go about buying a mask or filter of some kind, particularly for cycling? What should I be looking for and where would I find such a thing? I’m assuming the masks sold at 7-11 isn’t any good.
I have a couple made by 3M and I think they are not bad. Now, may be there are others with some chemical filtering something, but I dunno.
I assume you were not here for SARS. I still have stockpiles of masks from that era. We became experts on which masks allowed what size particles.
Go to any pharmacy and marvel at the variety. Top of the line are N95. Buy several models and try them out.
What kind of cycling do you do? For commuting, the average 7-11 masks will do. But for working out, since you breathe much heavier, the normal masks will obstruct your breathing and make riding uncomfortable. I wouldn’t bother with an N95 mask; that thing will suffocate you if you wear it during your workout. When I go for a ride when the air quality is bad, I put on a spandex neck warmer that I just pull over my mouth and nose. It’s not as thick as a mask so it doesn’t filter the air as effectively, but at least it allows me to breathe normally. You can find them in most bike shops.
The B&Q clone “Te Li Wu” sells N95 masks that are pretty good. They have a flap valve built in and are marketed for spray painting / sanding / grinding or whatever.
They filter incoming air but allow free flow of the air going out, so they don’t saturate with water and make breathing difficult.
Pretty cheap, too.
Yep, but there is a Japanese model that is also N95 that has a different shape from the 3Ms and is quite light and tight, it could be used for biking -though I haven’t tried.
today was one of the worst days for air pollution I’ve seen recently. Went up the hill for some hard hiking, but just took a short relaxed walk instead. Visibility over Taipei was almost nil.
It looks bad everywhere in east asia right now, even Korea and Japan. I’m guessing it’s all caused by crap coming from China.
Not necessarily although possible of course. Sometimes it’s inversions layers that trap the polluted air close to the ground.
As usual I suspect it’s a mix of homegrown and Chinese stuff.
Here’s the map.
aqicn.org/map/