Program – Neighborhood Air Quality Monitoring
At the September 7, 2017 membership meeting of the FWLNA, we were pleased to have a reprise of an event held in June that was very well received. On June 26, FWLNA partnered with Downwinders at Risk and the University of North Texas Health Sciences Center (UNTHSC) to spend an evening discussing air quality sensors in neighborhoods and how they might be used by individuals, especially those with respiratory problems, to plan their day. We asked the same speakers to present the information again at our league quarterly meeting.
Currently air quality is monitored by very few, very accurate sensors that are few because they are very expensive. In the last few years, small and inexpensive sensors have been developed that might be used in monitors that are more densely located. It might be possible to have one or more in a neighborhood with everyone having real-time internet access to their local conditions.
The role that air quality plays in our day-to-day well-being, the potential uses of actual, real-time local air quality, and the participation of Fort Worth neighborhoods was discussed by Dr. David Sterling of the UNTHSC, Mr. Jim Schermbeck of Downwinders at Risk, and by Libby Willis, past-president of the League of Neighborhoods.
Jim also introduced Kari Northeim, a doctoral candidate in Environmental Sciences at the University of North Texas, who brought a very small, very portable ozone monitor for us to see.
The program was very interesting to all in attendance. Many thoughtful questions were posed to these experts and their answers helped us have a better idea of what we might do now and what we can expect in the future.
The League is grateful to these excellent speakers for providing such a memorable experience. Their command of the subject was awesome and their passion was contagious.