Outdoor air pollution, in the most extreme cases, can be immediately identified even without any special training. It casts a haze over cities, collects on streets and buildings, and provides dramatic fodder for the news. But while high drama is often a prerequisite for news about air quality to be reported, the real story is the health impacts that occur even when the air isn't thick enough to see.
## Introduction
According to the [EPA](http://cfpub.epa.gov/eroe/index.cfm?fuseaction=list.listBySubTopic&ch=46&s=343), Americans, on average, spend approximately 90 percent of their time indoors, where the concentrations of some pollutants are often 2 to 5 times higher than typical outdoor concentrations. Most pollutants affecting indoor air quality come from sources inside buildings, although some originate outdoors. Typical pollutants of concern include **combustion products such as carbon monoxide, particulate matter, and environmental tobacco smoke; substances of natural origin such as radon; biological agents such as molds; pesticides; lead; asbestos; ozone (from some air cleaners); and various volatile organic compounds from a variety of products and materials**.
This is even more striking when the health effects attributed to outdoor fine [particulate matter (PM2.5)](/wiki/particle-sensing) rank among the risk factors with the highest health impacts in the world, annually [accounting for over 3.2 million premature deaths](http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es2025752). In October 2013, the World Health Organization [announced](http://www.iarc.fr/en/media-centre/iarcnews/pdf/pr221_E.pdf) they are considering particulate matter, a major component of indoor and outdoor air pollution, as a Group 1 carcinogen along with tobacco smoke and asbestos.
### Subtopics
[wikis:parent:air-quality]
****
## Questions
[questions:air-quality]
****
## Activities
[activities:air-quality]
## Particle Sensing Projects
Public Lab has initiated a [Particle Sensing Project](/wiki/particle-sensing) focused primarily on [Silica](/wiki/silica). This project overlaps with and includes the DustDuino and is coordinated on the [Air-Quality Google Group](/lists).
A variety of particle sensors have been posted on the site:
[wikis:particle-sensor]
## DustDuino
[DustDuino ](http://publiclab.org/wiki/dustduino)can help individuals with limited resources monitor PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations, indoors or outdoors. It uses Shinyei PPD42NS, a $15USD optical sensor that uses an LED and a lens to determine the concentration of dust in a partially closed chamber that draws in air from its surroundings.
### Cypress Hills Air Quality (CHAQ) Initiative
In 2013, this 8 week [Air Quality Class](http://publiclab.org/wiki/air-quality-class) was created for middle-schoolers in the Cypress Hills Air Quality (CHAQ) Initiative, with support from the United States Environmental Protection Agency's program "Citizen Science: Community Involvement Today and in the Future". This project was a collaboration with the Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation. Joe Saavedra and Liz Barry are the Public Laboratory facilitators. Georgia Bullen, Yael, and Jason Lipshin are involved from MIT.
### Air Column Monitor
The [air column monitor project](http://publiclab.org/wiki/air-column-monitor) is from the April 2012 EcoHackII at Parsons in NYC, which brought together a group of developers, "scientists", data visualizers and activists to work on the initial design.
### Roomba Indoor Air Quality Mapping
This tool is being developed to experiment with visually [mapping indoor air quality](http://publiclab.org/wiki/roomba-indoor-air-quality-mapping). A Roomba--the room cleaning vacuum--is programmed to travel all around a room once it is left to roam.
****
## Resources
### U.S. EPA Standards and Test Methods
### National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)
Section 109 of the Clean Air Act directs the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) requisite _to protect public health_ with an adequate margin of safety (primary standard) and _for the protection of public welfare_ (secondary standard). Section 109(d)(1) of the CAA requires EPA to complete a thorough review of the NAAQS at _5-year intervals_ and promulgate new standards when appropriate.
Complete details of the standards, measurement principles, and data interpreation, can be found in [Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations Part 50](http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title40/40cfr50_main_02.tpl)
[Summary of the NAAQS Criteria Pollutants](http://www.epa.gov/air/criteria.html)
[](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/005/670/original/EPANAAQS.gif)
### EPA Test Methods
EPA approved instruments are designated as either a Federal Reference Method (FRM) or Federal Equivalent Methods (FEM). The complete list of approved instruments for NAAQS evaluating is provided on the EPA [Ambient Monitoring Technology Information Center (AMTIC) web site](http://www.epa.gov/ttn/amtic/criteria.html)
### Real Time Data
EPA and its State and Tribal partners publish near real-time air quality data (typically hourly updates) as well air quality _forecasts_ on the [AirNow web site](http://airnow.gov/).
The AirNow site also contains, links to [Visibility Cameras](http://www.airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=airnow.webcams), which are yet another way to evaluate air pollution.
Examples of clear and hazy days from [Boston HazeCam](http://www.hazecam.net/camsite.aspx?site=boston):
[](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/005/671/original/boston.jpg)
### Historical Data
Historical air quality test results are freely available through [EPA AirData](http://www.epa.gov/airdata/)
### EPA & Citizen Science Next Generation of Monitors
EPA has also been involved with [Next Generation Air Measuring](http://epa.gov/research/airscience/next-generation-air-measuring.htm) and is currently offering its Citizen Science Toolbox Resources online:
- Air Sensor Guidebook;
- Air Sensor Technology: State of the Science Presentation;
- Mobile Sensors and Applications for Air Pollutants; and
- Sensor Evaluation Report.
## Other Resources for Air Quality Standards
The U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC) and its **National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)** also offer a wealth of guidance. In particular, the [NIOSH Manual of Analytical Methods](http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2003-154/) is a collection of procedures for sampling and analysis of contaminants including workplace air.
The **Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)**, based in Atlanta, Georgia, is a federal public health agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Their [Toxicological Profiles](http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/index.asp#P), is particularly useful for when a pollutant can be identified by compound or element.
## Wikis
All wiki pages relating to air quality:
[wikis:air-quality]