Air quality has a profound impact on human and environmental health. Most of us are aware of the extensive network of regulatory air and weather instruments and the color-coded Air Quality Index (AQI), a tool the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) uses to communicate air quality. But there is more we can learn about air quality and processes that affect the quality of our air to inform decisions that directly impact human and environmental health.
Air Sensor Loan Program
The Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library is excited to announce the launch of a new Air Sensor Loan Program developed in partnership with our area EPA Region 5 office. The Air Sensor Loan Program provided ten (10) handheld, portable air sensors for check out. The portable AirBeam2 air sensor measures and maps particulate matter (PM) also known as particle pollution, relative humidity, noise, and temperature. The sensors can be used indoors and outdoors. Particulate matter (PM) is microscopic, inhalable particles in the air. Long-term exposure to PM has been shown to negatively impact health. By making these air sensors available for check out, EVPL and EPA encourage you to explore and learn, through a form of participatory science, how air quality impacts health.
Unlike the stationary, regulatory air and weather instruments, portable air sensors allow one to measure in specific locations. Below are a few things you may explore and learn near sites with a portable air sensor:
- Explore how trees, shrubs, and perennial plants remove pollutants from the air.
- Learn how vegetative buffers block pollutants from vehicle, agricultural, and industrial emissions.
- Learn about sources of particle pollution such as industrial and agricultural processes, vehicles, construction sites, fields, smokestacks, fires, dust, etc.
These are several ways to explore and learn about air quality, pollutants, and vegetation using portable air sensors. Reserve one of our portable sensors today!
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