Air quality apps: PurpleAir, AirNow, IQAir, essential in ... - CNBC

After skies turn back to blue from smoke-darkened gray and orange, people are obsessively checking air quality maps online to see if it's ... SkipNavigationMarketsBusinessInvestingTechPoliticsCNBCTVWatchlistCramerPROMenuKeyPointsWildfireshavebeenshroudingmuchoftheWesternUnitedStatesandCanadainthicksmoke.Portland,Oregonsufferedfromtheworstairqualityintheworldfordays.It'scurrentlysecondonlytoVancouver,Canada,whichischokingonsmokefromtheU.S.blazes.Thecityof Seattleranksthird,SanFranciscoseventhandLosAngelesninth.WorriedresidentsareturningtomapsandappslikeAirNow,PurpleAir,andIQAirtoseehowbadtheairisoutsideandwheretheycangotoescape.Airqualitysensors,likethosefromPurpleAirandIQAir,arealsoseeingrecordsales. ThePurpleAirair-qualitymaponFridaySept.11,2020,showsmostofthewestcoastwithhazardouslevelsofpollutionfromwildfiresmoke.ScreenshotAsrecord-breakingfireswreakhavocontheWesternUnitedStates,they'realsoreleasingmassiveamountsofsmokeandashintotheatmosphere,addingtotheregion'shealthwoes.  Portland,Oregonsufferedfromtheworstairqualityintheworldfordays.It'scurrentlysecondonlytoVancouver,Canada,whichischokingonsmokefromtheU.S.blazes.Seattleranksthird,SanFranciscoseventhandLosAngelesninth,accordingtoIQAir. Tofindoutwhereandwhenit'ssafetogooutsideagain,residentsareflockingtoairqualityappsandwebsiteslikeAirNow and PurpleAir inaddition IQAir.They'realsosnappingupairqualitysensorsmadebytheseandothergroupstomonitorpollutionlevelsontheirownproperties,alongwithairpurifierstokeeptheirhomesandofficesbreathable.OnSeptember9,2020,asskiesaboveOaklandandSanFranciscoturnedaneeriedarkorangefromthesmoke,about600,000peoplevisitedthePurpleAirairqualitymapinasingleday,accordingtoGoogleAnalyticsdatathecompanysharedwithCNBC.ThevastmajorityofthosevisitorswerefromCalifornia.SitevisitsfromusersinOregonandWashingtonwerepickinguponthe9thand10th,aswell,asOregonpreparedtoevacuatesome500,000peoplefromharm'sway.PurpleAirCEOAdrianDybwadtoldCNBC,"Wefeelgladtobeabletohelppeoplemeasureandunderstandwherethesmokeis,howfaritistravelingandwheretheymightgotogetcleanair.Butitisaverystrangefeelingwhenyourbusinessdoeswellinthemiddleofsuchtragedies."PurpleAirsold1,000sensorsinrecentweeksFoundedin2015,PurpleAircreatesitsmapwithdatathatstreamsinfromthesensorsthatthecompanymakesatitsDraper,Utah,headquarters,whichcostbetween$199to$279apiece.Thecompanyemploysjust12full-timeemployeesbutislookingtodoublethatthisseason,andhasabout9,000ofitssensorsinstalledaroundtheworldupcurrently,upfromabout6,000atthistimelastyear,Dybwadsaid.About1,000sensorsweresoldinthepastfewweeks,aslightningstormssparkedanearlyfireseasoninCalifornia. Themapisfreeandhasnoads,andoffersasimplecolor-codedkeythatshowsjusthowbadtheairisoutside.Agreendotmeansit'smostlyclean.Orangemeansthatsensitivegroupswilllikelybeaffectedafter24hours,whileredmeanseveryonemaybeaffected.Theworstcolor,adarkpurple-maroon,warns"Healthwarningsofemergencyconditionsiftheyareexposedformorethan24hours.Theentirepopulationismorelikelytobeaffected."Ontheworstdaysofthe2020fireseason,likeSept.11,mostofthewestcoastiscoveredinpurple-maroondots.VehiclesareseenalongInterstate80asflamesfromtheLNULightingComplexFireareseenonbothsidesontheoutskirtsofVacaville,California,U.S.August19,2020.StephenLam|ReutersReadingsonthePurpleAirmapcanappearhigherthanthemeasurementsontheAirNowsitemanagedbyfederalagenciesincludingtheU.S.EnvironmentalProtectionAgencyandNASA.Dybwadexplainedwhy:"Oursensors,essentially,shinealaserbeamandwhenparticlesfloatthroughoraresuckedthroughthatbeamoflight,theycountandassessthereflections.Themore,andbrighterthereflectionsgenerally,themoreparticles.Thedensitythatthesensorassumescanbeslightlyoffdependingwhatitismeasuring,likewoodsmokeversusgraveldust,forexample."Woodsmokeparticlesgenerallyhaveadensityof1.5gramspercubiccentimeter,andgraveldustparticlesaretypically2.8gramspercubiccentimeterindensity,henoted. Fornow,PurpleAiraimstoshowpeoplewheretheintensityofairpollutionisgenerallyworseningorimprovingeveryfewminutes,andwhethertheairisriskyorhealthy."Wedon'tneedtobesplittinghairsallthetime—whetheritispurpleorverypurple,weknowtheintensityofthepollutionisbad,"saidDybwad."Othercompaniestrytohidetheirdata,soyouhavetopaytologintoseeit.Ourphilosophyisopenness."Otherairqualitycompaniesareworkingonmoreprecisemeasurementsofparticulateswebreathe.Aclima,astartupfundedbytheSchmidtFamilyFoundation,EmersonCollectiveandotherenvironment-mindedinvestors,isworkingonsensorsthatcanmeasureparticlesandgreenhousegases,likeozone,togeneratehyperlocalairqualitydatathatispurchasedandusedbyregulatorsandscientists,primarily.  Thestartup'sCEOandfounder,DavidaHerzl,saidhersystemsworkwithamixoftechnologies,includinglaser-basedandelectrochemicalsensorsandmachinelearningsoftware,allcombinedintoakindoflabinabox.Thesystemsareportableenough togointhebackofapassengervehicle,whichcanrovearoundanytownthatneedstobemonitoredcloselyinthefaceofanewenvironmentalthreat.Theycanevengeneratereadingsofhowairqualityvariesfromoneendofacityblocktoanother.Thestart-upissellingitsdataandsystemstoregulatoryagenciesliketheBayAreaAirQualityManagementDistrictinCalifornia.TheyuseAclimadataforemissionreductionplanning,andenforcementagainstpolluters.Herzlsaidthecompanyismonitoringairqualityinanareathatcoversabout10millionresidents,mostlyinCaliforniawithsomeinNewYork.Sheexpectstodoublethatcoverageinthenextsixmonths.SwissairqualitycompanyIQAir,whichalsooperatestheAirVisualapp,seesspikesinwebsitevisitsandsalesofairfiltrationsystemswheneverthere'sasignificantenvironmentaleventlikethefiresnowragingintheWesternstates,ortheAustralianwildfiresin2019,whichburned72,000squaremilesofland,killed34people,anddrovebillionsofanimalsoutoftheirhabitat.Forexample, IQAir'sCEOforNorthAmerica,GloryDolphinHammes,toldCNBCthecompanygainedover1millionnewvisitorstoitsairqualitymapsfromAugust17toSeptember10asfiresbrokeoutacrossthestateofCalifornia,burningarecordamountofacreage.Overthatsameperiod,newvisitorstoairqualitymapsforcitiesinOregonandWashingtononIQAir.comincreasedbymorethan18,000%and38,000%respectively. Thecompanyhasmorethan80,000sensorsmeasuringairqualityaroundtheworld,withamajorityinNorthAmericatoday,andsomepositionedatU.S.embassiesaroundtheworld. GloryDolphinHammes(CEO)IQAirNorthAmerica,Inc.IQAirInc.Whileit'sobviousthatpeopleshouldavoidgoingoutsidewhentheskyturnsdarkandorangewithsmoke,airqualityproblemsandassociatedhealthrisksremainevenwhenskiesappearnormal,Hammesnoted."Wetakeairqualityforgrantedalltoooften.You'llseeablueskyandassumeyoucanbreathecleanairaswell.Tragiceventslikewildfirescanbringadiscussionaboutairqualitytotheforefront.Butwewanttomakeairqualityvisibleandatopicofdiscussionallyearround,"shesaid.Becausethecompanysellsairpurificationsystems,notjustsensors,someofitsfocushasshiftedin2020tohelpingmeasureairqualityandimproveventilationinmoreschools,hospitalsandindustrialsettings. Theriseoffree,onlineairqualitymapsmarksamassiveshiftinconsumerawarenessofairpollution,accordingtoenvironmentaljournalistAmyWestervelt,creatoroftheclimatechangepodcastDrilled.Westerveltsayscoal,manufacturingandotherindustrieslobbiedhardforgovernmenttotreatairemissionsdatalikeatradesecret.Butgivensophisticatedenoughsensors,anddatacomingfromconsumersandopen-sourcegroups,industrywon'tbeabletohideitsimpactontheairwebreatheforever. "Ithinkthis'airpocalypse'couldputanendtoenvironmentaldisinformation,"saidWestervelt."Youcan'tmessageyourwayoutofitwhentheskyisonfireandnobodycanleavethehouse."WATCH:WestCoastwildfirescontinuewithatleast15peopledeadVIDEO1:3501:35WestCoastwildfirescontinuewithatleast15peopledeadNewsVideosTVWATCHLIVEWATCHINTHEAPPUPNEXT|ETListenTVWATCHLIVEWATCHINTHEAPPUPNEXT|ETListen