• Question: how are you going to measure the pollution in the air you breathe?

    Asked by anon-177555 to Urslaan, Nicola, Becky, Andrew, Daniel on 12 Jun 2018. This question was also asked by anon-177553, anon-177685.
    • Photo: Urslaan Chohan

      Urslaan Chohan answered on 12 Jun 2018:

      Aeroplanes measure the amount of chemicals in the sky, and machines on the ground can be used to calculate the amount of pollution. There are also ways to measure this in water we drink. Adding the numbers from these tests gives an idea of the total pollution in the world

    • Photo: Andrew Singer

      Andrew Singer answered on 12 Jun 2018:

      One of the components of air pollution are small particles that result from the combustion process of engines (cars/lorries/industry). These particles are captured on filters and analysed for their size and quantity. The smaller the particles, the more dangerous they are for human health as they can penetrate deep in the lungs. Many other chemicals are regularly monitored in the air–each has its own piece of kit. You might find this link useful: http://lovecleanair.org/about-air-quality/how-pollutants-measured/automatic-monitoring/#.WyAksdUzYkI

    • Photo: Daniel Marsh

      Daniel Marsh answered on 21 Jun 2018:

      I use lots of mobile laboratories that run all the time, sucking in the air that you breathe and analysing it in ‘real time’ to see how the chemical composition changes. These ‘monitoring stations’ can be located next to busy roads, in town halls, libraries, parks as well as in schools to represent the air that we all breathe. We also strap portable analysers to people to measure the pollution that they are actually exposed to as they move around doing everyday activities. This allows you to compare where the most polluted areas are as well as the best way to make different journeys around our cities. We can find out if is it better to walk, ride a bike or take a bus or train.

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