Air Quality Monitoring for Schools
Please Note: The air monitor sensors have not been calibrated and therefore Ecclesall Primary School cannot assure the accuracy of the data.
Blurb from Graham Turnbull – Clean Air Sheffield
Working with the University of Sheffield, we have built a network of particulate matter (PM) sensors which has been spreading across Sheffield over the past 6 months. Some schools already have air quality monitoring – either through official sensors operated for Sheffield Council, low cost sensors operated by The University of Sheffield, ultra-low cost particulates sensors and also NO2 diffusion tubes managed by community groups in cooperation with Sheffield Council.
All of the real time data from all of these different sources will eventually be aggregated by the University of Sheffield. There are several researchers already starting to use this data. The goal of the project is to be able to produce a real time map of Sheffield’s Air that anyone can access.
The goal of Clean Air for Sheffield is to have real time monitoring at every school in Sheffield. The sensor provided by Clean Air for Sheffield is inexpensive and fairly accurate and is based on the international Luftdaten project. There are 10,000 of these devices in use mostly in Europe.
The device measures particulates which are created through the burning of wood, fossil fuels and through tyre and brake wear. We are measuring particles under 2. 5 microns, particles which are small enough to enter the blood stream. Research in the past few years is uncovering more and more evidence of harm caused by these particles. The World Health Organisation has set an annualised exposure limit of 10 ug/m3 for this size of particle. The UK government’s Commission for Medical Effect of Air Pollution (COMEAP) has stated that 60% of harm from particulates is at levels below 7 ug/m3. On a good day in Sheffield, the PM 2.5 level is about 1-3 ug/m3. On a bad day it can be over 50.
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1836920213190989/