Pollution in Brussels: you can do something about it – Bruxsel’Air particle detector

“We know what’s on our plate (more or less), we know what ‘s in our glass (more or less), but we don’t know what’s in the air we breathe, or very little,” claims Bruxsel’Air.

Bruxsel’Air launched a new campaign called, Les chercheurs d’air. Everyone can become an air searcher by installing a fine particle detector at home and connecting it to an online card. The data gathered will make it possible to understand the quality of the air.

In Brussels there are only 6 monitoring stations for PM10 and 5 for PM2.5. And on top of being quite imprecise, this information is difficult to access for the general public.

This lack of information is an issue for two reasons:

– Brussels citizens have the right to know the quality of the air they breathe.

– Our elected representatives also need precise data about air pollution in Brussels to better understand it and therefore combat it more efficiently.

One of the major air pollutants is fine particles. They are designated by the initials PM, for particulate matter in English. Six stations measure PM 10 concentrations in Brussels. By 2018, the WHO threshold was reached or exceeded in two-thirds of the stations. And five stations measure PM 2.5 concentrations and the WHO threshold was exceeded in all of them by 2018.

The solution requires collective action, so you can join the cause here.