Ecology Ottawa Air Quality

Subject: Fwd: Improving Ottawa’s Air Quality
Date: Sat, 31 Jul 2021 19:36:38 -0400
From: Heather Pearl <hptek20@teksavvy.com>

[…] Of particular interest is the Ecology Ottawa Breathe Easy campaign. I borrowed one of EO’s air quality monitoring units in late May-early June, long before the wildfires started making Ottawa’s air quality toxic. It was an eye-opener to see how high the PM 2.5 particulate counts were on a few occasions (PM 2.5: the tiny particles that contribute to development of and exacerbate heart disease, high blood pressure, asthma etc. etc…. and even cross the placenta to wreak havoc). During a period when we still were pretty much locked down, the Transitway busses, traffic on IPD, plus heat and humidity, cooked up poor air quality in the south end of our neighbourhood. Now that IPD is almost back to being its usual linear parking lot self, the levels of dangerous particulates are likely to be more consistently high, even when we aren’t being affected by wildfire smoke.

For those who are interested in volunteering for the Breathe Easy Campaign: To join the team of nearly 100 volunteers taking part in Ottawa’s largest community-led science project, click here.

Thanks, Heather

See also https://www.ecologyottawa.ca/breatheeasy

From their newsletter:

The 2021 Breathe Easy Campaign is underway!

We are officially one month into the 2021 Breathe Easy Campaign! Air quality monitoring began on July 1 and will continue through to the end of September. Our dedicated volunteers have measured particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, and ozone levels at 45 different locations across the city for more than 500 total minutes of air quality recording! AND they have signed up to do it 80 more times throughout the summer!

To join our team of nearly 100 volunteers taking part in Ottawa’s largest community-led science project, click here.