PROJECT
BREATHING SPACE
OUR STORY
AIR POLLUTION & INDOOR AIR QUALITY
Air pollution occurs when a large amount of gases and solid particles in the air causes harm to our health and comfort. Common air pollutants include carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxides, methane and chlorofluorocarbons. Air pollution is detrimental to human health and the planet as a whole. Overall, Air pollution has killed 7 million people each year, causing it to be the world's largest single environmental health risk. It also accounts for a third of deaths from stroke, lung cancer and heart disease. Productivity losses and degraded quality of life caused by air pollution are estimated to cost the world economy $5 trillion per year. This is an extremely serious problem worldwide. With more than 7. 3 million people, Hong Kong is no exception.
Indoor air quality is undoubtedly important as more than 90%of our lives are spent indoors! Indoor Air Quality has a significant impact on human health and comfort. With poor indoor air quality , many health problems may occur. Elderly are even more susceptible to poor indoor air quality. Firstly, they spend a significant more time at home compared to adults. They also tend to have respiratory diseases and poor indoor air quality might exacerbate it. These indoor air pollutants mainly are respirable suspended particles (RSP), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) etc.
COVID AND ITS IMPACT ON ELDERLIES
As you all know, Covid 19 has affected many people worldwide. The virus is spreading exponentially and there still isn't a vaccine for it yet. Many schools were stopped, many restaurants and other shops were forced to close down, even the 2020 Olympics had to be postponed. Scientific study concluded that prior exposure to air pollution will aggravate the health impacts of COVID-19 and increase the risk of death by suppressing immunity.
COVID 19 has an immense impact on nursing homes. 45% of all world-wide deaths come from nursing homes. It has killed 200 thousand people from nursing homes alone in the world! 80% of all deaths come from people who are aged 65 or above. All of these alarming numbers are one of the reasons I want to conduct this project.
GRANDFATHER & ME
My 70-year old grandfather is my greatest inspiration and has always been go-to adult for advice.My 70-year old grandfather is my greatest inspiration and my go-to adult for advice.
Four years ago, I had severe eczema— I couldn't sleep because of my debilitating skin condition. As my grandfather understood how much of a toll my skin took on me and none of the solutions in the market worked for me, he took on one of the most pivotal projects of my lifetime— inventing his own air purifier. After months of night shifts doing research and dissecting different air purifiers he could buy online, he figured out the underlying problem was the lack of oxygen in my room. Two years later, he built his company AIRO2 selling these air purifiers worldwide and has collaborated with more than 40 companies!
Ever since, he has taken a role of a mentor in my life. Everytime I doubt myself about giving up — in my academics, musical journey, or my magic-learning adventures, I think of him and how I would never want to let him down.
