Breathing Vancouver air right now equal to smoking more than 7 cigarettes

Aug 23 2018, 1:51 am

If you’re wondering just how bad inhaling the wildfire smoke is for your health, there’s an app for that.

“Sh**t! I Smoke” converts the air quality in a particular region into the number of cigarettes smoked per day.

The app was inspired by Berkely Earth’s findings on the equivalence between air pollution and cigarette smoking.

According to the app, the math comes down to a simple rule of thumb: one cigarette smoked per day is equal to a Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5) level of 22ug/m3.

cigarettes

Sh**t! I Smoke

In Vancouver, the current air quality rating sits at 10. The app says that breathing in Vancouver air is the equivalent of smoking 7.4 cigarettes.

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Vancouver rating/ Sh**t! I Smoke

In Abbotsford, residents will inhale the 8.3 cigarettes.

cigarettes

Abbotsford rating/ Sh**t! I Smoke

And things get worse in farther north. Check out the ratings for Fort St. John and Prince George, which sit at 11.8 and 16.7 cigarettes, respectively.

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Fort St. John rating/ Sh**t! I Smoke

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Prince George rating/ Sh**t! I Smoke

To put it into perspective, Gwalior, India —one of the most polluted places in the world— has a cigarette smoke rating of 3.5 cigarettes smoked.

The app is available to download on the App Store and Google Play.

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DH Vancouver StaffDH Vancouver Staff

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