Particulate Pollution and Childhood Health: Citizen Science Approach

Air pollution is one of the most serious threats to children worldwide. Measuring air quality is crucial for effective responses and actions. The use of static sensors in local communities helps to inform people about air pollution in their area and raise awareness of the need to reduce pollution levels. This paper aims to highlight the usefulness of these new low-cost portable sensors in assessing personal exposure, identifying hotspots as well as aid advocacy for cleaner air in the local community. Citizen science entails the public’s participation in scientific research and the use of this approach in our ongoing study in Bradford, UK using low-cost sensors has proven to be beneficial because it allows citizens to be involved in the research and data collection process. The study results show the level of harm they are exposed to, which might evoke behavioural change in lifestyles that can improve public health. Although, short targeted citizen science campaigns cannot replace static sensor data. They can however, supplement static data, increase engagement and can also be used in regions with limited air quality data.