On Wednesday 26th July 2017, Sustainable Merton’s Community Champion Steph attended a stimulating Citizen Science training workshop on ‘Busting Air Pollution’ – run by London Sustainability Exchange (LSx) and Greener Jobs Alliance.
"Air quality is both a workplace issue and a public health one. The aim of the event was to equip community representatives, especially trade union members, with the knowledge and tools to enable them to collect evidence on poor air quality, which can then be used to get employers to put air quality on the agenda.
The session was very insightful and the agenda was packed with information!
It was really interesting to hear about the success stories of other local South London groups who have monitored air pollution levels and taken the results to council. Putney is a good example. They have nearly halved the levels of nitrogen on Putney Bridge by encouraging the council to use only hybrid busses along that route.
Community representatives were provided with 6 air monitoring tubes per borough. The tubes have to be tied to a post 8ft above the ground, ideally on a main road and left for 2 weeks. They will then be collected and sent to Gradko who will analyse the results – measuring NO2 content, not particulate matter, and then normalise them.
The intention is for LSx to then hold a further session later in the year to discuss the results and help us with creating action plans and making best use of these figures. ”
Steph Maton
Air Quality Champion
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