Staying In and Freaking Out
Learn about two community science options to help monitor air quality.
In 2021, Fred and I had a week’s vacation in Truckee, CA, near Lake Tahoe. The area is an alluring vacation wonderland, but that summer, there had been wildfires in some nearby counties. Before leaving Atlanta, we read the reports and decided the impacted areas were far enough away from Truckee that we’d be in almost no danger of being in an evacuation zone. The vacation was, like most vacations, something we were looking forward to––especially since Covid was keeping us at home. It would be okay, we thought.
However. Some days were not so okay. Take a look at these images and screenshots I took, where it shows we had Air Quality Index (AQI) days of 326 and 500. Hazardous.
On those days, we stayed cooped up in our condo trying to avoid the bad air. Following advice from the locals, I rolled up towels and placed them at the bottoms of doors to the outside. If I quickly went outside for something, my eyes started stinging, I could faintly smell smoke, and I felt like I could even taste an ashy dryness my mouth. I hated the air and the depressed mood that settled on me as if to match the heavy haze outside. I kept wondering why we came and whether we should we stay. But after two really bad days, the wind changed, bringing in gusts of blessed fresh air. We suddenly had clear skies and a few AQI days of around 70 and 100, which seemed like a prize to celebrate with hiking and getting outside from dawn to dusk––which we did.
That trip has stayed with me, though. I got a crash course in AQI and was freaked out by the outdoor air. The experience gave me a strong education in two ways. First, I was informed by everything I felt and saw outside. We were never in danger of the fire itself, by the way, not even close to the evacuation counties. But we got enough wildfire smoke in Nevada County that our car windshield got covered with speckles of ash. Second, I learned from the AQI app I was using. In fact, I became a bit obsessed with the data.
Enlightened by a dark subject.
My focus on quickly educating myself was not unusual. A 2020 NIH (National Institutes of Health) study of the behavior of people living in areas with many bad air-days concluded: “Among U.S. adults, air quality awareness increases with increasing days with alerts of unhealthy air. These findings improve our understanding of the extent to which air quality alerts prompt people to take actions to protect their health amidst poor air quality.” Yes, this conclusion may seem “duh” on the face of it, but it gets to the heart of the ways we often act: unless it affects me (and mine), we find it easy to skim the surface of an issue or completely look away.
After our experience in Truckee, I no longer look away. I felt alarmed and anxious during the 500 AQI day and now have loads of empathy for others confronting the same problem. By now, I’ve learned about how particulate matter fits into an AQI rating. According to the CDC, there are two types of particles being measured.
Coarse (bigger) particles are called PM10 and can irritate your eyes, nose, and throat. Dust from roads, farms, dry riverbeds, construction sites, and mines are types of PM10.
Fine (smaller) particles, called PM2.5, are perilous because they can get into the deep parts of your lungs — or even into your blood, possibly speeding up calcification inside the arteries. 1 When we confront wildfire smoke, like what we are experiencing in the U.S. this summer from Canadian wildfires, the finer particles toxify our air. 2
One consequence of my 2021 bad air experience is that this week in Atlanta, when our AQI reached 148 on Tuesday, I took it quite seriously. That morning, I decided to forgo my usual morning bike ride with friends, especially when I saw that our fine particular count was 39. The NIH says that when we exercise our breathing increases from about 15 breaths per minute to 40-60 times per minute. 3 I’m no spring chicken, and the thought of me outside breathing deeply for two hours or more seemed like a rotten idea.
Air sensors and how community science side fits in
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) runs AIRNow, a website billed as the “one-stop” place for air quality data in the U.S. An interactive map at the site allows you to see AQI measurements at your home zip code, at one particular sensor location, or in the whole U.S. The EPA relies on its own network of air sensors and methods of data aggregation. There are commercial sensors for sale to individuals, but the EPA does not endorse any particular brand.
That being said, the EPA does recognize the need for supplemental air quality data and information, which brings us to two community science options. Finally. What you’ve been waiting for! The community science! Read on.
PurpleAir. While PurpleAir calls itself community science on the website, it is not like the other “everyday” science I write about because it is a for-profit company that sells $300 air sensors. Information from the sensors go to a PurpleAir database and are displayed on an app for all to freely see and use. When I first arrived in Truckee for our vacation, a neighbor chit-chatted a bit with me in the driveway of the condos. Her parting tip? “Download the PurpleAir app.” I followed her advice, and went on to follow the PurpleAir app screen like a addict for days. Purple is the color used to designate foul air, and I saw way too much of it.
I recommend you use the EPA’s AIRNow app, and PurpleAir as a backup. Both are free. The EPA openly relies on PurpleAir data. In 2022, it published this research on its site: “EPA Research Improves Air Quality Information on the AirNow Fire and Smoke Map.” This story mentions how the EPA sometimes relies on PurpleAir data. Currently in the metro Atlanta area, there are about two dozen PurpleAir sensors in operation.
ISeeChange: Community Climate & Weather Journal. This free, crowd-sourced community science program, started in 2015 in the Gulf Coast states, invites individuals to monitor climate and weather in real time by uploading weather-related images and comments. The information is shared with ISeeChange partners, which include NASA, the City of Miami, NOLA Ready and Thriving Earth Exchange.
Upcoming:
What do you know about gopher tortoises? Get ready to learn about them next week, as I will interview an impressive young environmentalist I’m getting to know. Sam Jenkins has been telling me about his work conducing field surveys during this (hot-hot-hot) Georgia summer.
The UGA Great Pollinator Census will be Aug. 18 and 19.
Do you have a subject you’d like me to cover? Do you know someone I should interview? Please send me an email or tell me in the comment box. Also, you can help by sharing the link to my newsletter with a friend. Thanks!
Wisecrack I heard: “Can you believe all this smoke from the Canadians? They’re usually so nice.”
Love this, Pam. Thanks for educating all of us about air quality!!!
Wonderful post. Thanks for sharing.