"Sniffer" bikes
"Sniffer Bike" is a project to track air quality in the Netherlands Sniffer Bike is a particulate matter (PM) sensor that was developed by SODAQ and Civity. The sensor aims to help combat air pollution and growing environmental concerns by collecting data about particles in the air - including PM, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), and temperature - to enable users to cycle on routes with better air quality.
To learn more about the project:
Introducing Plume II:
This device is available in Canada and performs similarly to Sniffer Bike but on a strictly individual basis (ie. no "global" network... yet!)
Flow, by Plume Labs: The first smart air quality tracker
Stackwatchssm has purchased a Plume II and will be posting local observations. Here is a picture of the device and a data printout:
To learn more about the project:
- Project Sniffer Bike Publishes Results & Findings - SODAQ
- Sniffer Bikes collect data in Lund - Civity
Introducing Plume II:
This device is available in Canada and performs similarly to Sniffer Bike but on a strictly individual basis (ie. no "global" network... yet!)
Flow, by Plume Labs: The first smart air quality tracker
Stackwatchssm has purchased a Plume II and will be posting local observations. Here is a picture of the device and a data printout:
This is how to interpret the observations:
The Plume Air Quality Index: "At Plume Labs, we have carefully studied the various AQIs. We observed two things. The first was that none of these AQIs were based on commonly accepted health impact thresholds, and the second none of the AQI thresholds had any concrete meaning for individuals.
To address these issues, we built our own: the Plume Air Quality Index. The Plume AQI has seven levels of pollution, or thresholds. These thresholds are linked to the exposure limits outlined by the World Health Organisation. Each category represents the amount of time it is safe to spend in that level of pollution. For example: one year (PAQI < 20), one day (PAQI <50), one hour (PAQI <100).
In practice, this means that if an individual’s average daily exposure exceeds 50 Plume AQI, they may start to experience negative health impacts."
The overall Plume AQI is determined by whatever pollutant is measuring the highest. For example: if you have readings of 10 VOCs, 25 PM2.5, 30 PM10, and 50 NO2, the overall Plume AQI will be 50. (The units for the 5 variables are in µg / m3.)
The seven levels of pollution (or overall AQI) are:
The Plume Air Quality Index: "At Plume Labs, we have carefully studied the various AQIs. We observed two things. The first was that none of these AQIs were based on commonly accepted health impact thresholds, and the second none of the AQI thresholds had any concrete meaning for individuals.
To address these issues, we built our own: the Plume Air Quality Index. The Plume AQI has seven levels of pollution, or thresholds. These thresholds are linked to the exposure limits outlined by the World Health Organisation. Each category represents the amount of time it is safe to spend in that level of pollution. For example: one year (PAQI < 20), one day (PAQI <50), one hour (PAQI <100).
In practice, this means that if an individual’s average daily exposure exceeds 50 Plume AQI, they may start to experience negative health impacts."
The overall Plume AQI is determined by whatever pollutant is measuring the highest. For example: if you have readings of 10 VOCs, 25 PM2.5, 30 PM10, and 50 NO2, the overall Plume AQI will be 50. (The units for the 5 variables are in µg / m3.)
The seven levels of pollution (or overall AQI) are:
WHAT ARE VOCs?
VOCs include a variety of chemicals, some of which may have short- and long-term adverse health effects. Concentrations of many VOCs are consistently higher indoors (up to ten times higher) than outdoors. VOCs are emitted by a wide array of products numbering in the thousands. Organic chemicals are widely used as ingredients in household products. Two of the most harmful one's are Benzene and Benzo(a)pyrene.
“decades of research” that has found no safe levels of benzene exposure because it’s so toxic at very low levels. The petroleum-based chemical “causes cancer”, especially leukemia and in blood forming organs, the US Department of Health and Human Services wrote. The toxin has also been shown to harm the central nervous system and reproductive organs. The US banned benzene’s use as an ingredient nearly 45 years ago," and it is “somewhat unique in that it’s pretty well established to be incredibly toxic – that’s been known for decades to over a century,
WHAT IS NO2?
Nitrogen Dioxide (NO 2) is one of a group of highly reactive gases known as oxides of nitrogen or nitrogen oxides (NO x ). Other nitrogen oxides include nitrous acid and nitric acid. NO 2 is used as the indicator for the larger group of nitrogen oxides.
Nitrogen dioxide can decrease your lung function and make asthma worse. Long-term exposure to low levels of nitrogen dioxide can increase your risk of developing breathing problems, such as COUGHING and WHEEZING.
Particulate Matter <10 microns (PM10) - airborne particulate matter with a mass median diameter less than 10 µm
Particulate Matter < 2.5 microns (PM2.5) - particulate matter with a mass median diameter less than 2.5 µm
Numerous studies have linked PM to aggravated cardiac and respiratory diseases such as asthma, bronchitis and emphysema and to various forms of heart disease. PM can also have adverse effects on vegetation and structures, and contributes to visibility deterioration and regional haze.
PM 1, which are so much finer than PM 2.5, can penetrate the cardiovascular stream even further, and give rise to lasting conditions, such as predisposing people to heart diseases. Studies in the west have shown that PM 1 can lead to premature births and affect foetal development. PM1 is the most harmful. When inhaled, PM1 particles travel to the deepest area of the lungs, where a significant part of them passes through the cell membranes of the alveoli (the millions of tiny sacs in our lungs where O2 and CO2 are exchanged), enter the bloodstream, damage the inner walls of arteries, penetrate tissue in the cardiovascular system and potentially spread to organs.At worst, PM1 can contribute to deadly diseases like heart attacks, lung cancer, dementia, emphysema, edema and other serious disease, leading to premature death. (Particulate matter 2.5 and 10 - Canada.ca)
Here is a sample of a local reading March 15, 2022 (winds from SE) March 29 brisk SE winds a lot of dust in the air
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