NTU student creates website that estimates how many cigarettes’ worth of haze you've breathed in

"I just wanted to craft a simple-looking website, as I have a few family members and friends that are also often overwhelmed by all the different numbers, and I just wanted a simple website for them to use," Zi Heng tells 8days.sg.

This audio is generated by an AI tool.

Everyone's been diligently checking PM2.5 readings before stepping outdoors these days. But one Singaporean has come up with a different metric to help people make sense of the haze.

Zi Heng, 21, a Data Science and Artificial Intelligence student at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), recently created a website called How Much Haze Have You Smoked Today?

The website estimates how many cigarettes' worth of fine-particle pollution one could have been exposed to based on Singapore's haze readings.

Speaking to 8days.sg, Zi Heng said: "I am a firm believer in not smoking. It does indeed feel ironic to equate the haze to cigarettes, but perhaps we should view the haze to be as dangerous as cigarettes, as I feel some youngsters might be underestimating the danger the haze brings."

(Photo: Haze Tracker)

The website’s measurements are based on metrics from environmental research organisation Berkeley Earth, which estimates that breathing air containing 22 micrograms of PM2.5 per cubic metre over 24 hours is roughly comparable to smoking one cigarette.

The calculation assumes someone is breathing outdoor air continuously at an average breathing rate. These are rough comparisons based on outdoor air pollution levels, not actual cigarettes smoked or a medical assessment of the health effects.

When 8days.sg checked the website on Oct 14 at 4pm, it estimated that the island-wide average PM2.5 exposure over the previous 24 hours was equivalent to 4.4 cigarettes. If the pollution level recorded during the latest hour were to continue for an entire day, the exposure could be equivalent to 9.4 cigarettes.

The idea behind the website was simple: Zi Heng just wanted to make haze readings easier to understand.

"I just wanted to craft a simple-looking website, as I have a few family members and friends that are also often overwhelmed by all the different numbers, so I just wanted a simple website for them to use," he added.

It took him just a week to build the website on his own, and he only decided to share it online after receiving positive feedback from family and friends.

"I find that the 24h PSI is a little like trying to drive a car while looking at the rear-view mirror and doesn't help with whether I should go for a run now," he explained. "The one-hour PM2.5 readings are also decent, but it is confusing because the scale of it differs from the 24h PSI."

His website displays one-hour and three-hour PSI estimates, calculated from PM2.5 concentrations, alongside NEA 's official 24-hour PSI readings.

It also breaks down air pollution levels across Singapore's north, south, east, west and central regions.

However, Zi Heng makes it clear that his one-hour and three-hour PSI figures are his own calculations, not official NEA readings.

"I have listed quite a lot of warnings near all my readings! The last thing I would want is to mislead anyone," he said.

The website also draws data directly from NEA's API.

According to Zi Heng, the data generally updates within one to two minutes of the start of each hour, while he has observed that NEA's public haze website sometimes takes around 10 minutes to update.

Zi Heng also stresses that the measurements should not be taken as medical advice.

"It shouldn't be used as a scientific measure or for advice, but it can hopefully help convince vulnerable people to stay home during the haze, just like they would avoid a smoking corner," he explained.

"I was really shocked by just how bad the haze is when putting it to a metric that we already know is bad conventionally (cigarettes)," he admitted.

What started as a personal project has since caught the attention of other Singaporeans after he shared it on Reddit, with the website attracting around 2,000 views daily as of Oct 14.

For now, he intends to keep the website running indefinitely, even after the haze clears.

And while the cigarette calculator may sound alarming, Zi Heng says the project is ultimately meant to give Singaporeans a different perspective on air pollution.

"It's just a little bit of fun, and I just want to provide a different way of viewing the same problem all of us Singaporeans are facing," he said.

And Zi Heng, who has never smoked, isn't encouraging anyone to start.

In fact, he revealed that the cigarette calculator wasn't originally meant to be the website's main attraction.

"This started as a joke between me and my friends, and thus when I started this website, I decided to just leave it in," he laughed.

"It essentially came because a friend joked that the haze made smoking technically less harmful as the difference between inhaled smoke and the surrounding air has decreased," he added.

Well, that's one way to look at it. Though, of course, smoking remains harmful no matter how hazy the air gets.

Who knew a joke among friends could turn into a haze tracker that thousands of Singaporeans would find useful?

Now, if only the haze itself would disappear as quickly as Zi Heng built his website.

This story was originally published in 8Days.

For more 8Days stories, visit https://www.8days.sg/ .

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“我只是想创建一个看起来简单的网站，因为我的一些家人和朋友也经常被各种各样的数字搞得不知所措，我只是想为他们提供一个简单的网站，”子恒告诉 8days.sg。

这段音频由人工智能工具生成。

最近，大家出门前都会仔细查看PM2.5的读数。但一位新加坡人提出了一种不同的指标，帮助人们更好地理解雾霾。

21岁的齐恒是南洋理工大学（NTU）数据科学与人工智能专业的学生，​​他最近创建了一个名为“你今天抽了多少烟？”的网站。

该网站根据新加坡的雾霾读数，估算一个人可能接触到的细颗粒物污染相当于多少支香烟的量。

子恒在接受8days.sg采访时表示：“我坚信不应该吸烟。把雾霾比作香烟确实有点讽刺，但或许我们应该把雾霾看作和香烟一样危险，因为我觉得有些年轻人可能低估了雾霾带来的危害。”

（图片来源：Haze Tracker）

该网站的测量数据基于环境研究组织伯克利地球的指标，该组织估计，24 小时内呼吸每立方米含有 22 微克 PM2.5 的空气，大致相当于吸一支烟。

该计算假设受试者以平均呼吸频率持续呼吸室外空气。这些是基于室外空气污染水平的粗略比较，并非基于实际吸烟量或对健康影响的医学评估。

8days.sg网站于10月14日下午4点查询该网站数据后估计，过去24小时内全岛平均PM2.5暴露量相当于吸4.4支香烟。如果最近一小时的污染水平持续一整天，则暴露量可能相当于吸9.4支香烟。

该网站背后的理念很简单：子恒只是想让雾霾读数更容易理解。

“我只是想制作一个简单的网站，因为我的一些家人和朋友也经常被各种各样的数字搞得不知所措，所以我只是想为他们做一个简单的网站，”他补充道。

他只用了一周时间就独自搭建了这个网站，在收到家人和朋友的积极反馈后，他才决定将其分享到网上。

“我觉得24小时气压值有点像开车时只看后视镜，对判断我现在是否应该去跑步没什么帮助，”他解释说。“一小时PM2.5读数也还不错，但它的单位和24小时气压值不一样，所以很容易让人困惑。”

他的网站显示了根据 PM2.5 浓度计算出的 1 小时和 3 小时 PSI 估算值，以及 NEA 的官方 24 小时 PSI 读数。

它还细分了新加坡北部、南部、东部、西部和中部地区的空气污染水平。

然而，子恒明确表示，他的一小时和三小时PSI数据是他自己计算的，而不是国家环境局的官方读数。

“我在所有读物旁边都列出了相当多的警告！我最不想做的就是误导任何人，”他说。

该网站还直接从NEA的API获取数据。

据子恒称，数据通常在每个小时开始后的一到两分钟内更新，而他观察到，国家环境局的公共雾霾网站有时需要大约 10 分钟才能更新。

子恒也强调，这些测量结果不应被视为医疗建议。

“它不应该被用作科学衡量标准或建议，但有望帮助说服弱势群体在雾霾期间待在家中，就像他们会避开吸烟区一样，”他解释说。

“当用我们通常认为有害的指标（香烟）来衡量时，我真的被雾霾的严重程度震惊了，”他承认道。

最初只是一个个人项目，但在他将其分享到 Reddit 后，引起了其他新加坡人的关注，截至 10 月 14 日，该网站每天吸引约 2000 次浏览。

目前，他打算无限期地维持网站的运行，即使迷雾散去之后也是如此。

尽管香烟计算器听起来可能令人担忧，但子恒表示，该项目的最终目的是让新加坡人对空气污染有不同的看法。

“这只是图个乐子，我只是想提供一种不同的方式来看待我们所有新加坡人都面临的同一个问题，”他说。

而从未吸烟的子恒也不鼓励任何人开始吸烟。

事实上，他透露，香烟计算器最初并不是该网站的主要卖点。

“这最初是我和朋友们之间的一个玩笑，所以当我创建这个网站时，我决定就把它保留下来，”他笑着说。

“这主要是因为一位朋友开玩笑说，雾霾使得吸烟的危害性降低了，因为吸入的烟雾与周围空气之间的差异减小了，”他补充道。

嗯，这倒也是一种看法。当然，无论空气多么浑浊，吸烟仍然有害。

谁能想到朋友间的一个玩笑竟能变成一个雾霾追踪器，让成千上万的新加坡人觉得有用呢？

现在，要是雾霾也能像子恒建网站那样迅速消失就好了。

本文最初发表于《8Days》杂志。

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