Clean air?

[Peter Easterling]

We have heard about Puna's cleanest air in the U.S. The other evening the subject of sneezing came up. 3 of the 4 of us cough, sneeze and are gummed up with mucous. This was happening prior to the current lava flow though seems worse now. We live in HPP. My question is to anyone who actually knows facts. Is our air clean?

[leilanidude]

Just saw this:

http://www.hawaii247.com/2014/12/13/lava...lava-flow/

Snippet:
State air quality monitoring system website now active for Puna

The State of Hawaii Department of Health is currently operating three (3) air monitoring stations in the Pahoa and Leilani estates area in response to the current and ongoing eruption and lava flow activities. These monitiors detect the presence of air borne particles that may result from the burning materials (vegetation , grass, brush, and other materials). The data and information being collected by these monitors can be viewed at the following web site: emdweb.doh.hawaii.gov/air-qual… , click on “Quick Look” then go to “Puna Special Sites”.

State air quality monitoring site:
http://emdweb.doh.hawaii.gov/air-quality/

[ironyak]

For more related discussion
http://punaweb.org/Forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=19812

The DOH Envista site linked above combines all the stations and SO2 & PM2.5 reports, but you often have to dig through the data for the stations of interest as the warning color of the dots are for 24 hour averages which tends to mask times of poor air quality.

A new station was recently discussed for the Seaview area, but there are no stations between the flow front and the HPP area so those south / southwest winds can carry pollutants up through Ainaloa, OLE, and HPP and aren't detected until the Mt View or Hilo stations.

Hopefully the mobile station CD discussed will be available soon to help track pollutants carried with the variable winds.

[PunaMauka2]

also take into consideration the possibility of the development of allergies, perhaps involving environmental factors in the home.

[Guest]

So if leilani has really bad air from 3 a.m till 7 a.m, then the trades pick up with a shower or two and the rest of the day was beautiful. We would not know how bad the air really was during those 4 hours would we? These monitors give a 24 hour average, while showing you a picture perfect day on Oahu. What a joke with today's technology and resources we can't have hour to hour readings.
Well the kids did not want to miss one of the last school days of this year or semester( may hurt their grades). So even though both woke up feeling sick with headaches they put their breathing masks on anyway and walked to the school bus stop. The air was dirty yet the pressure of failing was greater.

[Punatic007]

Being a Punatic is a high maintenance lifestyle, truly worth it in my opinion but it's not for wimps(i'm not calling the opening poster a wimp). Diligence is a necessity.

When it rains during a storm of more than a few days you need to be aware of mold in the house. Invisible and airborne, treat accordingly. Ever since the building boom of this past decade more and more plants have been shipped here including dangerous insects. I recently read, sorry no link, that the slug carrier of rat lung disease came over on containers full of christmas trees. The plants are also bringing pollens. The albizzia I've heard when in bloom is quite the allergen for many people.

When you start having sinus problems at night, close all the windows as you sleep and put on an air purifier. That's what I do and it works great! Pay attention, be in the flow of nature and you will do fine.

[Obie]

Here are the 8:00 AM readings !!

Click the link and then select "Quick Look"frome the left menu bar and scroll down to "Puna Special Sites"

The readings are posted hourly.

http://emdweb.doh.hawaii.gov/air-quality/

Station Date Time PM2.5 WS (m/s) WindDir -- -- ug/m3 m/s Deg
HAAS_SCHOOL 12/16/2014 8:00 AM 0.0 0.5 331
PAHOA_HIGH 12/16/2014 8:00 AM 3.0 1.4 1
LEILANI 12/16/2014 8:00 AM 0.0 1.1 293

I tried to reformat the readings so they made sense but they got jumbled back together when I posted them.The reading from 1:00 AM to 8:00 AM for Leilani shows 0 PM2.5 meaning no smoke.

[Guest]

Punatic you are indeed correct about those allergens and mold. This time of year as we all have less sun hours during the day the molds can grow anywhere. We in fact just had to tear out our bedroom closet because of mold. The mold was spreading very fast and would return within days of being treated. So we cut everything out like shelves, drywall, and even replaced a few 2x4's. Treated, replaced, and painted. Wow what a job, learned a lot. Couldn't take chances with the keiki in the house.

[Guest]

Obie thanks for sharing. Seriously no smoke my ---. It was awful after midnight through 7:30 this morning, yet the monitor reads clean air. My back yard must act like a vacuum to attract and hold this crap for hours when the trades stall or switch. Where is this leilani air monitor located, bottom or top of subdivision?. The school to this point has had better air(nose test) in the mornings yet those readings seem to be the highest from the three. What are we really to believe we are this stupid with an edumacation from Pahoa?.
Expecting some good come backs.

[leilanidude]

Where is this leilani air monitor located, bottom or top of subdivision?.
It is on Leilani, about 3/4 of a mile from the bottom entrance, on a cleared lot. It is a small white trailer with a antenna tower on the side. Kinda hard not to know this if you live in Leilani? I am sure you drive past it all the time?