Children test the air for pollutants in Brighton science project

by Simon Levey
Wednesday 1 February 2012

Children from Brighton have been testing the air quality in their school playgrounds to monitor how pollution from neighbouring roads might affect them and their environment.

The primary school pupils are measuring the levels of airborne pollutants at different times of the day, and at different locations in and around their school, and learning about how the pattern of air quality relates to external factors such as the weather, local industry and the number of cars passing by or stopping at the school.

With the help of Imperial physicist Mark Richards, Year 6 pupils from Elm Grove Primary are using monitoring devices that detect nitric oxide (NO), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) and sulfur dioxide (SO₂), airborne molecules that are known to be harmful to human health and the environment.

The air quality results from monitoring stations at the roadside and in the school are being displayed on plasma screens inside the school, where pupils have been closely studying how pollution levels vary in real time. Community scientists from the Open Air Laboratories (OPAL) project visited the school during May and June 2011 to engage the students in activities and discussions about the environmental impact of air pollution and its significance for local biodiversity. The project continues in 2012, with pollution monitors in a third Brighton school, St Bartholomew’s Primary.

Richards, said: "There’s a lot that scientists don’t yet know about air pollution and how it moves around in urban environments. Thanks to our project, the kids can analyse pollution data, pretty much like a scientist does, and make their own decisions about what air quality means to them. They could even decide when is best to go out to play in the school grounds based on the pollution levels."

Brighton and Hove City Councillor Ian Davey, said: "Traffic emissions around schools are a big issue in the city and these children have been able to see how it affects air quality in their space. It’s been a valuable project which we hope will encourage a new generation of young people interested in protecting and improving the environment."

The ’Emissions Variable Messaging Systems (Emissions VMS)’ project uses technology developed by Richards and colleagues at his spin-out company Duvas Technologies. They will use data from the schools to help them calibrate and improve the design of the pollution monitors they build. The scheme is helping Brighton and Hove City Council carry out its science educational programme and as part of the project, pupils also visited the Science Museum and the ReachOut lab at Imperial’s South Kensington Campus.

Richards said: "We hope to use data from this programme to assess the impact that vehicle emissions have on human health, particularly on vulnerable groups like people with asthma or other respiratory diseases. In addition to the obvious health and educational benefits, results from this project should tell us more about how localised air pollution spreads around our urban environment. This data will be a valuable aid for local environmental policy-makers and transport planners, and can also help scientists develop more accurate models of the atmosphere."