Donal Hickey: Wearable air quality monitors to alert people of exposure to hazardous gases
Volunteers help search a home for items that survived the wildfire in Altadena, California. Picture: AP Photo/Ethan Swope
New, wearable air quality monitors will alert people of their exposure to hazardous gases which can damage health, ecosystems, and overall quality of life.
The sensor technology has been developed by a team of AMBER and CRANN researchers from the School of Chemistry, University College Cork (UCC), and the School of Physics, Trinity College Dublin (TCD).
One hazardous gas that seriously threatens health is nitrogen dioxide (NO2) — released into the atmosphere through motor traffic, industrial emissions, gas cooking, and other sources. It poses serious risks to human health, leading to short-term symptoms such as breathing difficulties, and long-term respiratory issues from prolonged exposure.
Recent, extensive wildfires on the United States west coast, and in Croatia, Portugal, Greece, Spain, Italy, and Algeria, in 2023 alone, have damaged not just foliage but burned through housing, commercial and industrial units, and vehicles, with hazardous gas emissions.
This further highlights the growing need for low-cost technology, such as air monitors for individuals, as the atmosphere knows no borders, remarked Professor Justin Holmes, of the UCC School of Chemistry and a senior member of the research team.
At present, most NO2 sensors are impractical for use in wearable technology. Current methods for measuring the gas often require expensive instrumentation, underlining the need to develop cheaper technologies for better monitoring of this critical pollutant.
While significant progress has been made in gas sensor technology, over the past two decades, challenges to real-time monitoring, room temperature operation, and sensitivity remain, said the researchers.
Separately, the EPA, in a report last September, said Ireland met the EU’s current air quality limits for 2023, but findings were higher than the more stringent World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines for a number of pollutants, including nitrogen dioxide.
Our Clean Air Strategy is committed to reaching WHO guidelines by 2040. Despite comparing favourably with many of our European neighbours in air quality, our 2023 results would exceed EU targets set for 2026.
Solid fuel burning and road traffic emissions continue to be the main threats to good air quality here, and pollution from these sources can reach high levels in winter and early spring. The EPA said less use of solid fuels for home heating, more energy-efficient homes and reduced car usage will help to reach targets.
EPA director for environmental monitoring, Dr Micheál Lehane, said air pollution is not just a city phenomenon, but something that affects towns and villages countrywide.
“If we want to achieve our ambition of clean air for everyone, everywhere, all year-round, then we need to address the emissions from residential heating and invest in transport systems right across the country," he emphasised.
