If anyone is in an indoor environment and wants to gauge risk, a portable co2 me...

graeme · on Aug 3, 2020

Can’t edit: co2 is a good proxy for VOC’s. CO2 is not a good proxy for pm 2.5, to be clear: this depends on the pm 2.5 in your outdoor air.

In other words co2 is a proxy for indoor/outdoor air exchange, and thus should be a proxy for how fast aerosols are sent outdoors.

newsbinator · on Aug 3, 2020

Is there a reliable portable Co2/Pm2.5 logger?

I've heard the accuracy on the Pm2.5 ones at least is way off.

I just moved to a place where I need to keep an eye on Pm2.5 in particular.

graeme · on Aug 3, 2020

It doesn’t log pm2.5. Only co2. For pm 2.5 I recommend a laseregg

klysm · on Aug 3, 2020

It seems to be an even better proxy for aerosol risk compared to general circulation because co2 is coming from lungs - I might make myself a wearable logger

ketamine__ · on Aug 3, 2020

We're constantly filling the rooms we occupy with aerosols from our mouths. How will this help?

function_seven · on Aug 3, 2020

Because we’re also constantly filling rooms with the CO2 that we exhale.

The CO2 meter acts as a proxy for how much exhaled “stuff” is lingering about.

So if your CO2 meter shows that the room is at ~400ppm [:’(], rather than 800 or 1000, then you can deduce that the room is well ventilated.

I’m other words, whatever ventilation removed the excess CO2 most likely also removed the aerosols at the same time.

driverdan · on Aug 3, 2020

Considering atmospheric CO2 levels are around 400ppm you're not going to keep it that low indoors unless it's full of open windows.

graeme · on Aug 3, 2020

Yup. I have all of my windows open right now, it’s summer. Co2 tends to be around 500. Even outdoor city air in my location is more like 450, though of course my meter could be biased high.

function_seven · on Aug 3, 2020

That’s what I was getting at. 400 is the lower bound, if you have many windows open on a breezy day in the country.

The tear emoticon was a nod to how high that baseline is.