While this process isn’t cheap - testing is $500 - it’s a bargain compared with the $2,000 device that had previously been the best option. The buckets, which cost $75, collect air inside a Tedlar bag, and then the samples are sent to labs for analysis of a range of compounds.
The tools could even, say, improve epidemiological studies by giving researchers more accurate information about the exposures of their subjects.Īn older, pioneering model is the Bucket Brigade, originally dreamed up in the mid-1990s by Edward Masry, the lawyer made famous in the hit movie Erin Brockovich. Williams’ paper identifies several different applications for the sensors: supplementing existing monitoring conducted by more expensive machines facilitating community conversations and the development of strategies to reduce pollution and understanding personal health. (HabitatMap made 20 AirBeam prototypes, at a cost of $500 each in the fall, they plan to launch a Kickstarter campaign to produce 1,000 more, which would bring the cost down to about $200.) While historically, air pollution monitors have tended to be heavy, pricey and stationary, these new handheld devices cost as little as a couple of hundred dollars. And eventually, they could have far-reaching implications for the way we monitor and respond to air pollution.ĪirBeam is HabitatMap’s handheld tool that measures air pollution. In fact, according to Ron Williams, a research chemist at the Environmental Protection Agency, there are up to 50 portable, low-cost sensors that purport to measure various kinds of pollutants, including ozone, carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds. The AirBeam is not the only new device that empowers citizens to keep tabs on air pollution in their own neighborhoods. “What are the trends over the course of the day? What are the hot spots? If I walk two streets away, will my exposure be less?” “I think it’s a real eye-opener,” said Michael Heimbinder, founder and executive director of HabitatMap, a New York-based environmental justice organization that developed AirCasting and led the workshop. All the data was then uploaded to the AirCasting website, where it appears on an open-source map.
Another carried an Android with an app that visually represents the data in real time colored dots changed from yellow to orange to red to indicate a rise in the PM 2.5 levels. At a recent workshop in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, teens walked around the neighborhood, one holding an air quality monitor, called the AirBeam. This was one of the more striking findings of AirCasting, a platform that allows individuals and communities to measure the air pollution in their surroundings. How Europe’s Greenest Capital Is Saving City Trees.A Global Reading App Is Ending ‘Book Deserts’ In the U.S.Why European Parents are Suing Their Cities Over Poor Air Quality.Citizen Science Is Helping Tackle Stinky Cities.