The Calgary Region Airshed Zone (CRAZ) has stationed a portable air monitoring laboratory (PAML) in Chestermere.
The PAML will be in Chestermere until March 31 and will come back from April to September 2022.
“It goes for six months at a time and it will come back to Chestermere during the opposite time of year, so we get a full year’s worth of data,” said the CRAZ Executive Director, Jill Bloor.
The PAML is a vehicle that has analyzers designed to gather data on air quality.
Chestermere was chosen as one of four locations to station the PAML because of the population.
“When we had our network assessment done, it was identified that the community didn’t have ambient air quality monitoring, which is the outdoor general air, not next to a facility, just the outdoor air,” Bloor said.
CRAZ and Alberta Environment and Parks have partnered to equip the PAML with analyzers to produce an Air Quality Health Index (AQHI).
The AQHI number ranges from one to over 10.
“One to three is really good air quality. Everybody, even if you have respiratory issues can go outside, and not feel like their health is being compromised. As the number goes up, there’s a guide underneath each number that explains if it goes to a four to six and you have severe asthma, maybe you don’t want to go outside to do a full marathon,” Bloor said.
“As it increases, it’s more of a risk and impact to our health,” she added. “This is especially concerning when we see the impact from forest fires and the smoke.”
Bloor encourages all Albertans to utilize the AQHI, as it can help to guide outdoor activities.
“It’s really important for people with respiratory issues, the old, and the young to pay attention to it,” Bloor said.
The data collected from the PAML is reviewed every day by an air quality scientist, and a monthly report is reviewed by a technical committee.
Bloor and the CRAZ team are hopeful that by having the PAML in Chestermere, residents will become more aware of the AQHI.
“There was no monitoring being done in that area, and we didn’t know what we would find. As we stay out there, at the end a report on the whole year will be developed, we don’t know what we’re going to find, because there hasn’t been any monitoring, that’s the exciting part of this program,” Bloor said.
“It might substantiate that we all feel we have great air quality in the area, but we don’t know until we’re finished,” she said.
Although the PAML is in the initial stages of the project, the air quality scientist and the technical committee have not seen any data out of the ordinary.
“I don’t believe anything has come up that’s made our scientists and our technical committee raise their eyebrows,” Bloor said.
“We’ve done a few months of review of the data, and on a day to day basis there hasn’t been anything that’s been startling, and that’s good, she added. “We want it to stay low.”
For additional information visit, https://craz.ca/.
To view the AQHI, visit, http://airquality.alberta.ca/map/.
