'Pollution sniffing' van hits the streets in Metro Vancouver
A new mobile lab is helping researchers at UBC to map levels of air pollution in Metro Vancouver in real time, monitor how they change, and measure which locations are most impacted.
The Portable Laboratory for Understanding Human-Made Emissions, PLUME for short, was developed by Dr. Naomi Zimmerman and it's described as a pollution-sniffing lab on wheels.
"I'm very passionate about all air pollution sampling happening in the community, in the real world, because this is actually the air that people in our community are breathing," she said.
"I am very confident that this is really going to up the game in terms of air pollution sampling."
Zimmerman says air pollution is a linked to nine million premature deaths globally each year.
"There is no safe level of exposure to air pollution," she said. "Even at very low concentrations, there are health effects."
The van is equipped with a pump that feeds air into it constantly, that air is sampled and the information is fed into a dashboard, Zimmerman says. A UBC student serves as a "co-pilot," making in-person observations to supplement the information gathered automatically.
"What it can do is it measures a suite of both regulated air pollutants and also emerging air pollutants. It samples those air pollutants while in motion and anywhere it happens to go," she said, adding that sensors also measure wind in order to get a better idea of which direction polluted air is blowing.
Some of what it can detect includes carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, ground-level ozone, black carbon, methane, and "volatile organic compounds," according to a news release from UBC.
'IF YOU SMELL IT, REPORT IT'
Another way the van is used is to map the relationship between unpleasant smells and air pollution, Zimmerman says.
"Right now, we're sampling hotspots of odour for air pollutants," she says
PLUME is part of a project called Smell Vancouver, where anyone in the region can submit reports of unpleasant smells using an app. Zimmerman says those reports will help flag places the van should visit.
The app asks people rate how offensive the smell is and to describe it by clicking on words like "fishy, smoky, chemical, decaying animal, or rotten eggs." It also asks people whether they experienced symptoms like coughing, dizziness, nausea or headache.
LINK: https://smell-vancouver.ca/
"We're using actually a citizen-science generated map of odour hotspots to know where we should go and do some sampling," she says.
"If you smell it, report it."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Health Canada to change sperm donor screening rules for men who have sex with men
Health Canada will change its longstanding policy restricting gay and bisexual men from donating to sperm banks in Canada, CTV News has learned. The federal health agency has adopted a revised directive removing the ban on gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, effective May 8.
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer denied bail after being charged with killing Canadian couple
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
LeBlanc says he plans to run in next election, under Trudeau's leadership
Cabinet minister Dominic LeBlanc says he plans to run in the next election as a candidate under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's leadership, amid questions about his rumoured interest in succeeding his longtime friend for the top job.
U.S. vetoes a widely supported UN resolution backing full membership for Palestine
The United States has vetoed a widely backed UN resolution that would have paved the way for full United Nations membership for the state of Palestine.
Sports columnist apologizes for 'oafish' comments directed at Caitlin Clark. The controversy isn’t over
A male columnist has apologized for a cringeworthy moment during former University of Iowa superstar and college basketball’s highest scorer Caitlin Clark’s first news conference as an Indiana Fever player.
Bayer recalls hydraSense baby product over 'potential contamination'
Bayer announced Thursday it is recalling two lots of its hydraSense Baby Nasal Care Easydose due to a potential contamination.
Cat found on Toronto Pearson airport runway 3 days after going missing
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
Grandparent scam suspects had ties to Italian organized crime, police allege
A group of suspects that allegedly defrauded seniors across Ontario and other parts of Canada using a so-called emergency grandparent scam appear to have ties to 'Italian traditional organized crime,' according to an investigator involved in the OPP-led probe.
Trend Line Anger, pessimism towards federal government reach six-year high: Nanos survey
Most Canadians in March reported feeling angry or pessimistic towards the federal government than at any point in the last six years, according to a survey by Nanos Research.