I didn’t know it, but the eggs my boys were cooking for themselves each morning were putting me at risk of premature death.
The danger wasn’t the eggs per se, but tiny cooking oil particulates that the stove’s heat was launching into the air. These particulates, known as PM2.5 because of their 2.5-micron size, have been linked with asthma (which I have), heart disease, stroke, and even autism and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in children born to mothers exposed during pregnancy. The World Health Organization estimates that 80 percent of people living in urban environments are being exposed to unhealthy levels of air pollution from particulates and it says they cause four million deaths annually around the world.
Image: The Speck 2.0 air quality sensor costs $200.
