In the last few years, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has put a lot of emphasis on citizen science, and on empowering citizens to monitor the air they breath.
For a great introduction to what you and your group could do, check out Making Connections for Citizen Science by Rachel McIntosh-Kastrinsky in the EPA “It All Starts with Science” blog
For more information, see:
Moving Forward Network Library – EPA Air Monitoring Resources
We have quite a few good EPA resources here. For an introduction, read the EPA factsheet.
For a deeper dive, hop on over to the EPA Air Sensor Toolbox for Citizen Scientists.
The photo above is of Leticia DeCaigny of the Diesel Health Project and Good Neighbor Committee of Argentine, Kansas, monitoring air in a neighbor’s yard.
In Argentine, a neighborhood in Kansas, City, Kansas, Ms. DeCaigny’s group found dangerous levels of Black Carbon, almost certainly emitted by large numbers of locomotives running continuously while being load tested at the BNSF Argentine Rail Yard maintenance facility, located just 1200 feet upwind from the neighborhood.
To learn more about their monitoring, carried out with the technical assistance of Global Community Monitor, check out the Kansas City Star article,
Diesel fumes near Kansas City, Kan., rail yard pose health threat.