Implementation of the citizen science part of the NanoEnvi project: monitoring indoor air particulate pollution with passive bio-captors

Abstract

International audienceExposition to air pollution in urban environments is now associated with a wide range of adverse health effects, including respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. For a medium-sized European city like Toulouse in France, with a population of approx. 500,000, road traffic contributes to fine particles concentrations and plays an important role in the exceedance of European limits happening several times a year. The goal of the NanoEnvi project is to track fine and ultrafine particle emitted by the vehicles and their fate at the street level and inside homes. A collaboration between researchers and citizens has been set up in the NanoEnvi project to allow the monitoring of indoor air pollution. Involved citizen also bring their appraisal on their local environment. Closing the gap between the scientific and citizen expertise will hopefully lead to collect better data and to develop better strategies (individual and institutional) regarding air quality. In the NanoEnvi project, we use magnetic method on low-cost and easy to implement passive sensors made with small pieces (around 2cm*2cm) of plane tree bark. Participating citizen in the city of Toulouse host two passive sensors for one year: one inside their home and one outside, mostly on the facade or in a balcony. More than 150 inhabitants have joined the project in the 2018-2019 campaign. Our study involves researchers from different fields: atmospheric sciences, earth and environmental sciences, physics, humanities and social sciences. This transdisciplinary team shares the goal to test and calibrate the environmental magnetic method as a new proxy for airborne nanoparticles. People got into the project through outreach meetings with scientists organized by the project or in the frame of other scientific events as well as in community centers and schools. This allows to involve a broad community of motivated people in the project, with different level of awareness of air pollution issues