I have 2 Awairs - most of the time the number is over 90 (which is good) but it also measures individual values as well as that overall score

My company has a different one in the office in SF, and that one publishes to the net so the results are available to employees to see if they should stay home

The smoke in SF last year made me sick, and air quality rarely bothers me. It’s not just carbon soot, there are all kinds of cyclic hydrocarbons produced by smoldering green wood. It’s much worse than campfire smoke.

Yes, many healthy people were sick in Seattle last year and they were recommending wearing masks outdoors. Anecdotally, I experienced headaches and sluggishness when I didn't wear a mask.

You probably have friends with asthma, it’s quite common.

Two years ago everything inside my home in Seattle was covered in in a fine layer soot when I left a window open overnight with a box fan next to it.

So yeah, filters are useful.