When George Thurston leaves his cottage in the woods of Waccabuc, N.Y., to head for work, a pollution monitor clipped to his belt—called an AirBeam —shows pristine air quality. As he takes the train through the suburbs, the device’s digits rise, meaning more pollution. By the time he gets to his office in Manhattan, they’re even higher.

“It’s important to know your exposure profile to protect against everyday cumulative risk,” says Thurston, professor of medicine and population health at NYU’s School of Medicine.

Compared to other toxins in the environment like plasticizers and pesticides, outdoor air pollution is the most harmful type based on current evidence causing millions of deaths per year . Using an air quality index (AQI) is one way to tell how polluted the air you’re breath

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