Richard's Tech Reviews

portable-ish air filters

Small filters that are easy to move around from room to room. Canadian prices and sites where available.
Be mindful that you will also have to factor in the cost of replacement filters, as filters typically need to replaced about every six to nine months.

Pure Enrichment PureZone $50
2.7" W x 8.5" H
tiny square foot size

e.g. from the Zon

This is really a personal filter that you would use on an airplane (please check with your airline first).  It can only do a small amount of space around one person.

Levoit Core Mini $50
6.5" x 6.5" x 10.4"
2.2 lbs
172ft² sqft room size

https://levoit.com/products/core-mini-air-purifier

e.g. from the Zon

BlueAir Mini Max $69 to $91
6.8" X 5.9" X 11.4"
2.8 lbs
90 to 216 ft² (sqft) room size

https://www.blueair.com/ca/shop/3654.html

BlueAir Pure 511 $105 to $140
7.9" X 7.9" X 13.4"
4.2 lbs
182 to 432 ft² (sqft) room size

https://www.blueair.com/ca/air-purifiers/blue-pure-511/3560.html

---

Levoit Core 300 $190
8.7" x 8.7 x 14.2"
7.5 lbs
219 ft² (sqft) room size

https://levoit.com/products/core300-air-purifier

I mention this because it's widely available but at 7.5 lbs it's not exactly portable.

Switzerland air quality map

Map

Switzerland's air quality data comes from the National Air Pollution Monitoring Network (NABEL).

https://www.bafu.admin.ch/bafu/en/home/topics/air/state/data/air-pollution--real-time-data.html

It's a data map with time-series animation, you have to click to select between ozone O
₃, dust particles PM10, and nitrogen dioxide NO₂ (not to be confused with nitrous oxide N
₂O).

Measurements are in micrograms per cubic metre µg/m³ (the standard measurement).

There is no option indicated for PM2.5 particles (the kind of particles you get from wildfire smoke).

App

Switzerland also has an air quality app for iOS and Android called airCHeck.

https://www.bafu.admin.ch/bafu/en/home/documentation/newsletter/apps.html

France air quality map

This is what I was able to figure out, there are multiple different sites all with different top level domains.

The indicator is called L’indice ATMO.

Map

There's a high-level map at

https://www.atmo-france.org/

and a more detailed map at

https://www.atmo-france.org/indiceatmo

L'indice ATMO

The colour scale goes from light blue (cyan) to purple.

Scale from L'indice ATMO - Quels sont les polluants pris en compte ?

Levels are in micrograms per cubic metre µg/m³ .
Note that PM2.5 and PM10 have different thresholds for each level.

Regional Associations

Data for the map are drawn from many regional associations, which have their own websites (and sometimes their own maps and data download).

Les Associations Agréées Surveillance Qualité de l'Air - AASQA
https://www.lcsqa.org/fr/aasqa

Country-wide Alerts

« Carte des épisodes de pollution »

https://www.lcsqa.org/fr/vigilance-atmospherique/episodes/carte

Note this is using an alert scale, coloured from grey to red; it's not the same scale or colours as the indice ATMO.

Data

Data is available from multiple different sites, including the national Atmo France site, where you search the map for available datasets

https://map.atmo-france.org/

and I guess a site called Geodair (stylised GeO D'air) ?, although I have to say their map doesn't accord with the main Atmo France map

https://www.geodair.fr/donnees/consultation

Individual regional air quality association websites also often have data download options.

Portugal air quality map

The Portuguese environmental agency is

Agência Portuguesa do Ambiente (APA)
https://www.apambiente.pt/

The Portuguese for "air" is "ar", the air quality measurement is called QualAR.

Air Quality Map

There's a map at

https://qualar.apambiente.pt/indices

You can also download a QualAR app for iOS or Android.

Of note, in addition to PM2.5 pollution from wildfires, Portugal also gets PM10 pollution from sand dust blown in from the Sahara.

Data

Data can be downloaded from

https://qualar.apambiente.pt/downloads

Spain air quality map

The Spanish environmental ministry is

Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica y el Reto Demográfico
https://www.miteco.gob.es/

The air quality measurement is the Índice de Calidad del Aire (ICA).

Air Quality Map

The map is available at

https://ica.miteco.es/

As far as I can tell, they don't have an app, but the website works fine on mobile.

Of note, in addition to PM2.5 pollution from wildfires, Spain also gets PM10 pollution from sand dust blown in from the Sahara.