The Complete Series On Air Pollution + Solutions – Part I

While it’s pretty clear to most people that pollution in the air is an issue, they don’t exactly know what to do about it. The first step you need to take is to measure your air quality so you can take action on limiting how much air pollution you’re taking in. There are potentially thirteen different kinds of pollutants in the air and it would take too much time to asses every one of them.

Can You Trust General Air Quality Readings?

The biggest issue with the air quality indexes provided for the general public is that they are general estimates –  in other words, in the world of air pollution, online readings only mean so much. On the plus side, some of the more noteworthy pollutants are measured by that index, such as as ozone, carbon monoxide, and sulfur dioxide. But many pollutants are not measured, and air quality measurements can also get very different readings even half a mile away.

If you look at a map at the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil and the data given provided by World’s Air Pollution Real-time Air Quality Index, you’ll notice that between just one street there is a large disparity in a reading between 34 and 59.

Such disparity can be attributed to the variety of factors that ultimately determine air quality. Moreover, such drastic disparities highlight the need for one to take their own initiatives when measuring air pollution in their own respective homes, work area, etc.

What Can Affect Air Pollution?

Factors such as sunlight, which produces lots of ozone, and wind behavior can cause readings to quickly change. The changing of wind direction or wind speed can also have an impact on the numbers.

Industrial buildings and traffic also serve to cause pollutant patterns that impact readings at any given moment. Here a few more things to keep in mind when looking at readings in your area that might apply to you:

• If you live close to an industrial factor, expect higher levels of nitrogen dioxide the closer you live to that factory.
• If you live in a rural area – remember that ozone travels far and fast. Wind can play a big role in carrying large amounts of ozone to your place and can be present in areas that you least expect.

These indexes also don’t include all air pollutants. For example, volatile organic compounds, also known as VOCs, are emitted into the air from products or processes that can lead to respiratory problems. These are often not measured in air quality indexes.

Measuring Air Pollution Yourself

With all these factors it becomes clear that air-quality indexes will not provide an accurate reading of what kind of air you are being surrounded by on a daily basis. That doesn’t mean you need to get independent testing equipment for nitrogen dioxide, ozone, or sulfur dioxide. It may be a good idea to have your own air quality meter. You can also just for cadmium or lead if you have a suspicion of being exposed to these heavy metals.

If you live in an industrial area that smelts metal, cadmium may be worth testing for. This would be the case if there’s batteries being produced, waste being incinerated, and mining being done.

Potential Indoor Pollutants

It is useful to know that aside for outdoor pollution, there are also four main indoor pollutants: carbon monoxide and dioxide, toxic mold, asbestos, and radon. With indoor pollutants, you want to focus more on prevention than anything else.

With carbon monoxide, it’s a good idea to place monoxide meters near your main heating systems. It’s not so clear if you’ve been exposed to carbon monoxide, and a blood test is really the only way to tell for certain, and even that won’t tell you how long your exposure was for.

If you are concerned that you have been exposed to high amounts of carbon monoxide poisoning, your best bet is to go have oxygen therapy (at a hospital) along with removing the source of CO poisoning from where you live.

When it comes to carbon dioxide, these detectors are not as widely used as carbon monoxide ones, but this doesn’t make them any less important. Carbon dioxide detectors are not cheap, but it’s worth it considering the fact that you will know when you can have your windows open without stressing whether or not you are letting in unsafe levels of CO2.

Testing for toxic mold isn’t as simple. Usually, spotting water damage or mold is a good assumption that the environment may have toxic mold in it. But establishing if there’s radon in your home just requires you to buy a radon testing kit, which aren’t particularly expensive.

Asbestos can be found by first looking if the materials of the building are falling apart. If you see that, then you’ll want to test for asbestos, and any building constructed before the 1990s may possibly have asbestos.

There you have it. You now know the basics about air pollutant measurements and the ways to take precautions regarding what may be in the air.