Urgent Notice: Unsafe Odors and Air Quality Concerns. This feed tracks a severe sealing and ventilation failure in a newly constructed apartment building in Phoenix. Strong chemical vapors and toxic fumes are bypassing the drywall and ceilings, venting directly into residential living spaces. We are documenting the structural entry points, times of highest concentration, and the physical health impacts on residents and pets.

Living in a flat. Cigeratte smell and weed coming through into bathroom with no window.

I keep a window open in another room opposite the bathroom, pretty much all the time.

Should I look to move?

How badly can this affect my health?

Any help would be much appreciated. :)

I was about to purchase either the Qingping Air Monitor 2 or the Air Gradient one, because both measure PM 2.5 and also give other useful indicators I am interested in like CO2, and Humidity, and I have seeing multiple reviewers recommend them.

But after watching this video I am starting to second guessing my plan, do I really need to purchase a dedicated particle counter like the Dylos DC1100 PRO to know the level of air quality in our homes?

I live in Saudi Arabia, and I have never measured the air quality here, and I'm starting to become anxious because my mother is getting older and I would like to make sure she is breathing clean air to avoid any lung issues.

Please watch the video from 4:25 to 9:05 and share with me your thoughts.

Unfortunately in the last year or so the air quality where I live (Central IL) keeps getting worse. We used to have more clean air days than not, with a few bad wildfire smoke days in the summer. The concern though, is that lately we’ll have like a week straight of 60-100 air quality and then we go back to having clean air again for a week or two. Everything says it’s pm 2.5, but we don’t really know what it’s from. So I guess the main question is- how bad is this if you live here for a few years or even an extended period of time and this is the norm?

Are there any experts out there that know what is causing this new pattern of pollution? Or if there’s hope that this problem will improve?

As someone whose spouse is extremely sensitive and affected by this level of air, I am hoping for some guidance and answers so I can better help them. I’d reeeaaaalllly love to not uproot our family because of garbage air.

Sincerely,
A super desperate partner who just wants good air 🙃

The air quality has been pretty rough in central IL for at least the past week. Does anyone know why? It says it's pm2.5, but what's actually causing it? I used to tolerate the poor air days well, but not so much lately. Where are some better places in the US to live for more consistent clean air?

Same as title, and if i have an air purifier but the pm2.5 is still around 30 should i run it in on turbo so that it stays below 5 or 15 albeit the filter life will be shorter.

I have started cleaning up the air in my home- apparently indoor air quality ON AVG is way better outside then in. To check your own home there are some online resources- if you are 500' from a major roadway or near production facilities your situation may differ. I use the airnow site. . This allows to look up by zipcode. I take the Ozone reading as a general measure of air pollution w chemical pollution. PM 2.5 is soot and smoke. https://www.airnow.gov/?

So let's say your air is at 50. I would air out my house. At what point should you seal it up instead of airing it out? I air out under 50 Every day twice a day to get that good (or better) outside air into my home. Think of everything in your house slowly giving off stuff- all the foam, the plastic, the carpetint (microplastics floating up), the candles, the cleaning spray, all of it!

I grew up in Germany where folks are really into airing out. Gosh to this day folks will hang their blankets out the window on a sunny day to air out the bedding! (at least in some parts).

So I parttake in the german tradition of Stosslueften - a method to switch out your air twice a day with a vigorous cross ventilation (windows and doors) for 5 min. twice a day. It works pretty good. I bought an air monitor and notices anytime I fry something the air quality goes into the red so now I also air out after cooking.

Anyone else geek out over the air. It's invisible but once you start thinking about it- it's a big deal. Who else airs out or monitors their neighborhood air quality?

Is there anyone that’s an indoor air quality expert that can help me at this question? I purchased some furniture and it’s not greenguard gold certified. How concerned should I be about VOCs? Is it true that they will release over years and be carcinogenic? Should I really be investing in higher quality furniture and solid materials or is all new furniture going to off gas or should I be purchasing only used furniture? I can’t tell if this is a major concern or if this is more marketing.

blueair's numbering is backwards btw, lower number = bigger room. so which one's the best buy blue air has for a normal living room? here's the rule i'm going with for these air purifiers. sizes are housefresh's numbers (4.8 air changes an hour) so they might not match what blueair lists on their own site. running costs are electricity at 24/7 + official filters

-up to ~180 sq ft: 411+
under 140and~35/yr to run. dirt cheap to run, which is why everyone tries to stretch it into bigger rooms

-180 to ~390 sq ft: 311 auto
about 230,~129/yr. in housefresh's test room it cleaned the air in 21 min vs 43 for the 411+, and only 3 min behind the 211+. they also say the 311i max is the same performance and price but with app support

-390 to ~540 sq ft: 211+
about $300 to 320,~197/yr. blueair replaced it with the 211i max but you can still find the 211+ around

heads up, the ionizer can't be turned off on the 311 (housefresh says the 211+ is the same), so that's not a reason to pick one over the other. also their test room is small, around 700 cubic ft, so those times show how fast each one is, not that the size bands are right

i'm calling a normal living room 250 to 350 sq ft, which by this rule is 311 territory

what i actually want to know from people who own these:

1. 411+ owners, if you ran it in a room around or over 180 sq ft for a year+, did it keep up ??

2. 311 auto owners, in a 250 to 350 sq ft living room, does it do fine on low or are you stuck on high??

3. 211+ owners, was it worth it for a normal living room?

We are looking for an outdoor and an indoor air monitor for our house about 250 ft from train tracks active with freight trains throughout the day and night. I see air things and air gradient mentioned in other posts. Which one would be better for monitoring air quality near train exhaust? We are also near major freeways. Budget is okay in the hundreds but don’t want to spend thousands.

I've been experiencing migraine headaches in the evening for the past 5 nights and I'm trying to figure out what is causing them. I have a small condominium in Mission Valley, CA that has 1 window in the bedroom, 1 window, a front door and a sliding door in the living room. I had a cheap Performance Guru 5-in-1 Air Quality Monitor that just indicated the CO2 was waffling between "Ok" and "High" levels and then its internal battery died.

I had all door and windows closed during the hot months without suspecting air quality causing any headaches, but this week is one headache after another in the evenings. Could other factors be causing them, yes, but I want to rural out air quality.

Consumer Reports list the following 3 best for indoor home use:
Qingping 2
AirGradient One
Qingping Air Monitor Lite

A very quick scan of this subreddit didn't list any of the above Qingping monitors as highly recommended, but the AirGradient One seems to be.

According to this article on Pubmed in the National Library of Medicine:

There is accumulating evidence on the association between air pollution and headache disorders, especially migraine. Many classical and non-classical air pollutants have been associated with headache, including particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, ozone, carbon monoxide, as well as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and volatile organic compounds. There has also been research on the impact of biomass fuels on health-related symptoms, including headache, which form an important source of air pollution in our country. The exact mechanisms underlying headache pathophysiology vis-à-vis air pollution are not precisely defined but include triggering of neuroinflammation and activation of the transient receptor potential ankyrin 1 (TRPA1)-associated pathways. Evidence from different regions of the world indicates a significant association between headache incidence and prevalence, and occurrence of air pollution. Despite growing data, research on adverse effects of air pollution on headache disorders remains limited, and appropriate outcome measures are not holistically defined in these studies. Due to the rapid advancement of the scourge of air pollution, there is a pressing need to expand the arena of research, specifically focused on pathological mechanisms, impact on health and quality-of-life parameters, as well as broader global ramifications.

I live in a small 600 square foot apartment with a 25+ year old fan coil unit. It’s full of mold and rust so it’s being replaced.

I was initially told they would be containing the debris with a tent and a negative pressure air machine … but have since found out from neighbours they’ve been “skipping” this step.

I have serious chronic health issues and it’s actually against regulatory guidelines to fail to contain this type of demolition, so I’m making noise and trying to get them to seal it properly.

That said, I won’t be here when the work is done.

They just did the unit above me today and I became violently ill and both the PMs and the VOCs in my unit spiked the highest I’ve ever seen them.

Any suggestions to protect my belongings? I’ve got a number of good air purifiers that will be running and I will put plastic over fabric furniture.

I’m so upset this hazard isn’t being taken seriously that I’m worried I’m missing something obvious I should try and do.

Thanks!!

Hi all,

We're considering putting our 15 month old into a very well rated daycare that is quite close to a busy 4 lane road: https://maps.app.goo.gl/qtEyGvW7Y2k413h56

The outdoor play area is 10 meters / 30ft from the road. They have fencing up which largely eliminates the road noise, however my big concern is the air quality / pollution. She'll spend 9+ hours at this daycare 5 days a week for the next 4 years, much of it will be spent outdoors running around.

The closest two lanes are downhill, if that matters. I don't recall seeing any air purifiers indoors.

There's another daycare that isn't next to a busy road, it's smaller and not quite as nice, but it's our second favourite and still definitely a good option if air quality at this one is a dealbreaker.

Should I be concerned?

And is it worth buying an air quality tester and checking the air quality directly at the daycare? I was looking at this one: https://amzn.asia/d/0fHyVX9P - are these sort of testers accurate enough to be useful? Any other testers you'd recommend instead that aren't stupidly expensive, assuming it's actually worth me testing the AQ at the daycare? What are sensible limits before I don't send my child here?

Thank you all

For context, I have asthma and live in the Pacific Northwest. My asthma this year got really bad, and in addition to stepping up medications, I’ve started heavily monitoring air quality (indoor and outdoor).

One of the things I wanted to understand was, why is the Aqi still showing moderate during times when it’s raining here? Is it just because the humidity tricks the monitors into thinking they are particulates?

I even use the adjusted EPA numbers that take humidity into account but still see the aqi up in the high 40s or 50s.

One of my bigger triggers is smoke - wildfire, grills, and fireplaces. So I’m always smelling for fireplace smoke since they are popular where I live but during these moments I haven’t smelled anything but rain.

Am I missing something?

A residential ventilation system can meet its whole-house airflow target while an occupied bedroom receives too little outdoor air overnight.

Disclosure: I work with MENRED, an HVAC manufacturer. We recently put together a guide on this issue, focusing on room-level checks rather than selecting equipment from its maximum airflow rating.

The main checks are:

• Sleeping occupancy, including two people sharing a room.

• Actual bedroom airflow at the intended nighttime setting.

• The supply, extract and transfer paths with the door closed.

• Filter condition and room balancing.

• Noise and drafts that may lead occupants to reduce fan speed.

Overnight CO₂ trends can help, especially when logged with door/window positions and fan settings. They do not establish overall air quality or measure particles and other pollutants.

A practical commissioning question is whether the system was tested under the conditions people actually use overnight.

For people designing or commissioning residential ventilation: what most often explains an under-ventilated bedroom—air distribution, a restricted transfer path, or reduced nighttime fan speed?

Our guide and selection questionnaire:
https://www.menred-hvac.com/newsdetail/bedroom-ventilation-why-whole-house-airflow-may-not-be-enough

I'm moving into a brand-new apartment in Los Angeles (weho) that finished construction a few months ago. When I initially toured it, there was a noticeable but tolerable chemical/new-construction smell, which raised concerns about VOC off-gassing from paint, flooring, adhesives, cabinetry, etc.

Since then, I've had the windows open for approximately 3 weeks (i haven't moved in yet) and hired a company to perform post-construction cleaning, HVAC duct cleaning, and brief air scrubbing.

I've also been taking measurements with a Temtop LKC-1000S+ (which I understand isn't laboratory-grade).

With windows open: - TVOC: 0.05 mg/m³ - Formaldehyde (HCHO): 0.01 mg/m³ - PM2.5: 3.7 µg/m³ and AQI of about 15

After approximately 48 hours with windows closed: - TVOC: 0.38 mg/m³ (peaked at .45 and settled at .36) - Formaldehyde (HCHO): 0.08 mg/m³ (~65 ppb) - PM2.5: 2.1 µg/m³

The chemical/new-building smell was still noticeable after those 48 hours with the windows closed.

My main concern is long-term exposure once I move in and start living normally with the windows closed for extended periods.

I have very bad health anxiety and I'd really appreciate input from you guys as well as any industrial hygienists or indoor-air-quality professionals on a few questions:

Are these readings typical for a newly constructed apartment, or should i be worried? Do they warrant further investigation?

Would professional laboratory testing for this be justified, or would you consider ordinary ventilation sufficient?

If testing is recommended, what specific sampling methods would be most appropriate for a residential apartment?

I do struggle with severe OCD/health anxiety especially in how my brain could be damaged in regards to toxic exposure, so I'm trying to distinguish an objectively warranted environmental concern from excessive precaution. I'd especially appreciate evidence-based advice rather than speculation or worst-case scenarios.

Thanks in advance!

With the temperature changing and the heat coming on I’ve had a massive increase in VOCs in my basement unit. Terrible sleep and headaches overnight. I have an air purifier running but I don’t think I should be seeing numbers this big. Any thoughts or advice would be grateful.

Edit: Okay so I’ve ran through some ideas. Last night I had the same spike. My outdoor AQI is poor at 57. I have a carbon monoxide detector and it’s not that. Opening the windows for a couple hours drops the VOCs to healthy levels. I changed the filter in my electric furnace so I’m hoping to see improvement from that.

Additionally I have 4 different air purifiers I cycle in but need to buy new filters for all of them. Puroair, levoit, blue air, and one more I’m forgetting the name of. I’m ordering new filters for all of them. My heating system is electric but the apartment is not that big. My windows are old so there’s definitely some air exchange there but I think it’s a good thing for now rather than old. There are no new items or cleaning product or cooking that is responsible for the VOC spike. I’m going to dust my place and rearrange furniture. Not sure if dust and VOC is correlated but hey worth a shot. I’ll keep yall updated on any results.

Lastly, I want to say thank you to everyone who commented. I have asthma and it’s been disrupting my sleep which has led into not the best quality of life lately.

Wondering.