About This Tool
Is your city's air killing you? TrueBreath converts real-time Air Quality (AQI) into the number of cigarettes smoked. Check the toxic score of your city and see how much life expectancy you're losing.
How to Use - TrueBreath
Step 1: Enter City Name
- Enter the name of your city (e.g., Patna, Delhi, Beijing, New York)
- Click "Check Toxic Score" to fetch real-time air quality data
- The tool uses the AQICN API to get current air quality measurements
Step 2: Review The Hero Stat
- Smoke Equivalence: See how many cigarettes worth of smoke you're breathing
- Based on Berkeley Earth rule: 22 μg/m³ of PM2.5 ≈ 1 cigarette
- This gives you a tangible understanding of air toxicity
Step 3: Understand Life Lost
- Life Expectancy Impact: See how many hours of life you're losing
- Calculation: 1 cigarette ≈ 11 minutes of life lost
- This shows the cumulative health impact of poor air quality
Step 4: Check PM2.5 vs Safe Limit
- WHO Safe Limit: 15 μg/m³ (24-hour mean)
- See how many times above safe limit your city's air is
- Higher multiplier = more dangerous air quality
💡 Tip: This tool helps you understand air pollution in relatable terms. If your city shows high cigarette equivalence, consider wearing masks outdoors and limiting outdoor activities.
Frequently Asked Questions
The tool uses the Berkeley Earth rule: 22 μg/m³ of PM2.5 ≈ 1 cigarette. It converts your city's current PM2.5 level into an equivalent number of cigarettes smoked per day, helping you understand the health impact of air pollution.
The calculation is based on average estimates: 1 cigarette ≈ 11 minutes of life lost. This provides a rough estimate to help visualize the health impact of air pollution. Actual impact varies based on individual health, exposure duration, and other factors.
WHO recommends 15 μg/m³ as the 24-hour mean safe limit. The tool shows how many times above this limit your city's air quality is, helping you understand the severity of pollution levels.
Cigarette equivalence makes air pollution health risks more relatable. Most people understand that smoking is harmful, so comparing air pollution to cigarettes helps visualize the invisible health threat of poor air quality.
The tool fetches real-time air quality data from the AQICN API, which is updated hourly. Data includes current PM2.5, PM10, AQI, and other pollutant levels for accurate calculations.
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