4. Air Monitoring 101

Therese Vick is the NC Sustainable Economic Development Coordinator/ Community Organizer for us here at BREDL. Community groups, especially our BREDL chapters, often use air monitoring as a tool for organizing. They are often concerned about the quality of the air they breathe and how it may affect their health or the health of family and friends. With smaller, low-cost sensors available, groups have become increasingly engaged in monitoring the air quality in their neighborhoods to understand and reduce potential health risks.

To define it, air monitoring is the systematic, long-term assessment of pollutant levels by measuring the quantity and types of certain pollutants in the surrounding, outdoor air. There are many reasons to do air monitoring such as:

• assess the extent of pollution;
• provide air pollution data to the general public in a timely manner;
• support implementation of air quality goals or standards;
• evaluate the effectiveness of emissions control strategies;
• provide information on air quality trends;
• provide data for the evaluation of air quality models; and
• support research (e.g., long-term studies of the health effects of air pollution).

With Therese we discuss the validity of community air monitoring, the process for a good air monitoring set up, what people can do with this information after, and how to keep these industries accountable for polluting our air.

Contact and connect with Therese: therese.vick@gmail.com

Air Monitoring resources: https://www.epa.gov/air-quality-management-process/managing-air-quality-ambient-air-monitoring https://www.epa.gov/outdoor-air-quality-data

Sign up for local air notices: ​​https://www.airnow.gov/