Sparkling Science - Breathing air

Analysis of typical exposure to the chemical mix of respirable ultrafine particles in rural and urban valley locations

Project description:

In urban centres, air quality is determined locally using sensors for ozone, nitrogen oxides or particulate matter (_PM10, PM2_.5). While the measurement of particulate matter is representative of the pollution in the urban centre, so-called ultrafine particles (UFP, particles with a diameter of less than 100 nm) are distributed completely differently. The mixture of particles (aerosol) of different sizes and composition enters the lungs with every breath. Depending on whether you are outdoors, on a busy road or indoors, you are exposed to different ambient aerosols. A preliminary study in 2018 showed that the topography and volume of traffic on the way to school can lead to increased particle exposure that is relevant to health. UFPs are suspected of being harmful to health.

This is where the project "Breathing air" comes in: The aim is to investigate particle exposure on the way to school for pupils at an urban and a rural school location. The pupils map their individual UFP exposure with mobile sensors under various meteorological and seasonal conditions.

Other citizen scientists such as classmates, parents, teachers and citizens from the neighbouring communities of the partner schools are actively encouraged to participate in the research. Without the participation of pupils and other citizen scientists, it would not be possible to generate such a unique data set on individual particle pollution.

Another aim of the project is to determine the chemical composition of particulate matter and UFP. Although UFP occur in high concentrations in very localised areas, their mass is so low that chemical analyses are very complex. In an innovative approach, the air is filtered in a denuder, then the particles are thermally vaporised and these components are analysed in a highly sensitive chemical ionisation mass spectrometer (CIMS), which was developed at the University of Innsbruck. The pupils have the opportunity to participate in these measurements.

In this project, the pupils are familiarised with scientific working methods, carry out measurements, gain an insight into data analysis and present their project results to the public. In addition, the pupils can look forward to lab days, data workshops at the University of Innsbruck and an excursion to CERN, where research is being conducted into cloud formation as part of the CLOUD project.