Social media users are sharing a surprisingly effective way to protect yourself indoors from the toxic wildfire smoke blanketing much of the East Coast: a box fan, four air filters and a whole lot of duct tape.
As searches for B次元官网网址渁ir purifiersB次元官网网址� spike on Google, people are posting on TikTok and Facebook about how to build the DIY air purifier. The technique, known as the method, has gained attention in recent years amid the pandemic and raging western U.S. wildfires.
Some East Coast residents are learning about the box fan method for the first time, unlike their who are accustomed to wildfire smoke.
Seattle resident Angel Robertson, 34, posted a on a New YorkerB次元官网网址檚 TikTok demonstrating how to put it together. In her video, which has amassed more than 600,000 views, Robertson duct tapes four 20-by-20 air filters into a box shape and attaches the fan on top. The whole apparatus costs under $100.
B次元官网网址淚t works extremely well and will save your life with really smoky days,B次元官网网址� she says in the video. B次元官网网址淚t does a lot better than the normal air filters.B次元官网网址�
Public health experts say Corsi-Rosenthal purifiers are highly effective at removing particles from the air. Petri Kalliom盲ki, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of MarylandB次元官网网址檚 School of Public Health, said their clean air delivery rate is relatively high and can be used to purify air against not only smoke, but pollen and viruses.
At the University of Connecticut Thursday, Misti Levy Zamora, an assistant professor in public health sciences, and her colleagues were handing out Corsi-Rosenthal purifiers for free to anyone stopping by. Zamora said she has done several tests at the university, public schools and her own home on the purifier.
B次元官网网址淚 can confidently say this thing is working really well today,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淚 was able to filter out all the particles in the air basically back down to what I saw last week within a matter of minutes.B次元官网网址�
The power of social media led to the invention of the box, co-inventor Richard Corsi, dean of the College of Engineering at the University of California at Davis, told The Associated Press. He said in 2020, he was sketching one night and put the design up on Twitter. Jim Rosenthal, CEO of Tex-Air Filters, took the design and built it. Corsi said he wanted to create an inexpensive purifier that the average American could afford. HeB次元官网网址檚 now hearing from friends in the Northeast who are using his idea.
B次元官网网址淲hen you have to seal up a building and reduce the amount of air flow coming in and when you have to spend a lot of time indoors, this is where portable air cleaners can really make a difference in your life,B次元官网网址� he said.
Grace Turner, 31, built her box fan purifier for her home in Rochester, New York, after picking up the trick from living in Salt Lake City. She shared her DIY box on TikTok where she said the air purifier has made a difference in her home.
B次元官网网址淭here are a bunch of different designs people can choose from, and itB次元官网网址檚 really accessible to find the info,B次元官网网址� she said of the DIY instructions online.
Liz Hradil, 27, who lives in Syracuse, New York, said the smoke burned her eyes, and she could feel the smoke in her nose and throat as the smoke descended onto New York this week. She went digging around online to buy an air purifier when she came across the Corsi-Rosenthal box and went to LoweB次元官网网址檚 to pick up the filters and fan. She then immediately noticed that the smoke smell was gone after about 30 minutes of starting her purifier.
B次元官网网址淚t was my first time, and my New York friends were like this is so genius,B次元官网网址� she said after sharing the photo of the box online. B次元官网网址淣o one had heard of it.B次元官网网址�
Beatrice Dupuy, The Associated Press
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