Watch how quickly my air pollution rises

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Video script:

Cook dinner with me to see how fast my indoor air pollution rises!

Here’s my air quality monitor. The EPA says that outdoors, PM 2.5 (or Particulate Matter) should be below 9. Higher levels are linked with heart disease, asthma, and cancer. 

Before I start cooking, mine’s at 1, which is a great start. 

I sautéed some chicken in a pan and boiled some noodles, and my particles shot up to 57 pretty quickly— and my carbon dioxide got pretty high too. This was even with my exhaust fan on high and my back door wide open. After I finished cooking and dished up, my particles were down to 44.

Finally, 30 minutes later, I was back down to 9, though my VOCs were up, so I turned on my air purifier and that took care of the rest. 

This is a pretty typical dinner, and shows you why I use the exhaust fan every time I cook. Even though the air doesn’t *look* smoky, there’s a lot going on that you can’t see!