Not that Long time ago, few people were monitoring the air, not the government, not the citizens. Today, weather apps estimate outdoor air quality, and the government’s own air quality monitoring website Airnow has an easy-to-use zip code portal, fire and smoke map.
Having an air quality monitor has real health benefits. Every U.S. state is responsible for developing its own monitoring plan. Even in densely populated urban areas, outdoor air monitors owned by federal, state and local jurisdictions can be geographically spread, making surveillance gaps unable to accurately capture air quality outside the front door.
Photo: Lisa Wood Shapiro
Outdoor air quality monitors are not only about understanding the air quality when smoke fills your home, but outdoor monitors can keep you informed. The United States has been engaged in air quality monitoring business for less than a century. In the not too distant past, citizens died from unregulated and unchecked air.
Trump’s EPA once again seeks to undercut current air quality index standards, numbers that determine what good, medium or unhealthy air is and repeal regulations on greenhouse gas emissions. These actions will cause dirtier air and less reliable data. Like face masks and air purifiers, outdoor air quality monitors are no longer niche equipment, but electronic decor in a modern coal mine in a bad air world.
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Photo: Lisa Wood Shapiro
Back in January, I woke up and found my Purpleair Zen outdoor air quality monitor glowing bright red. This happened for a few days and I was confused as the numbers were over 100, but there was no air quality alert in the area.
My annual AQI was less than 50 years old, reflecting good air. In the context, 100 or more AQIs are unhealthy for sensitive groups, while 150 AQIs are unhealthy for everyone. I mentioned unhealthy air to a friend who reminded me that New York City recently installed a concrete recycling center a few blocks away from my home. The literal dust caused by the center, including the failure to inform the community of its existence, could be the culprit of the recent rise of concrete dust generated by the recycling center in bad air. At that time, the recycling center had not yet implemented irrigation to reduce dust. My outdoor monitor’s data is entered into Purpleair’s crowdsourced live map. On the map, I can see other PurpleLeair monitors nearby, and the ones closest to the concrete recycling center tend to have poor air quality.
The danger of invisibility
In July, after a year of protests and political pressure, the city announced it would relocate the concrete recycling center. What happens if residents don’t see clouds of dust or notice the gray movies collecting on their cars? What if they can’t see everything around them? PM 2.5 is an invisible solid and liquid in the air. The slightest form can enter the deepest part of the lungs and enter the blood. There, they cause many diseases, respiratory distress and cardiovascular diseases.
Photo: Lisa Wood Shapiro
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Outdoor air quality monitor
In early 2024, the Biden Administration3) New science that reflects the harm caused by particle pollution. “This changes the window for “good” air on the air quality index.
These EPA guidelines are nearly twice as high as those of the World Health Organization guidelines, which is more stringent at 5:2.5 pm. Trump’s EPA is reconsidering the Biden administration’s PM 2.5 standard. EPA administrator Zeldin said: “All Americans should breathe clean air while pursuing the American dream. Under President Trump, we will ensure that particulate air quality standards protect human health and the environment while unleashing the golden age of America’s prosperity.”
The Trump administration also hopes to abolish greenhouse gas emission regulations. According to an EPA statement, “EPA further proposes to find that greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel power plants do not make a significant contribution to dangerous air pollution,” scientific research notes. So, as outdoor air is less regulated, it has the potential to become dirty and make people sick.
Too close to home
Last spring, the smell of a bonfire filled my home. I stared at my fourth floor windows and saw my neighbor’s illegal fire pit three backyards. Over the course of an hour, I watched the color on my Purpleair Zen outdoor monitor go from green to crimson. When I logged into the live map of the crowdfunded PurplePlePlePlePlePlePlePlePlePlePlePlePlePlePlePlePlePlePlePair, I could see that my outdoor air quality was unhealthy 160 pm 2.5 and a few blocks away the air quality was all good under 30 PM 2.5. It’s not surprising that fire pits cause air pollution, but I didn’t realize how intense and local this air pollution could be even though I occupied four stories in a semi-city-sized area. This is the microscopic air quality.
Photo: Lisa Wood Shapiro
