This article from Harvard Magazine discusses the surprising extent to which the presence of fine air particles affects human health. It highlights a study that carried out new techniques and collected data on just how much on an economic impact fine air particles can have because of their severe health impacts. “The research demonstrates that every microgram-per-cubic-meter increase in PM2.5 within a 24-hour period has an incremental effect on human health… In the United States, such increases in pollution occur on more than 122 days a year in every geographic region… [representing] ‘one additional hospitalization per day for every zip code for half of the year.’ These data correspond to $100 million in annual inpatient and post-acute care costs, and an estimated $6.5 billion in lost value of human life.”
Although this study acknowledged that it likely underestimated the true economic toll, it is still a significant number that should be paid attention to. At Piera Systems, our Piera-1 Intelligent Particle Sensor embedded in IoT devices can provide the kind of accurate, real-time data at low cost required to monitor and improve air quality to prevent unneeded economic costs.