Can You Trust the Air Quality Data You Are Using?

As awareness of the short and long-term health impacts of exposure to poor air quality increases, more and more people around the world are looking for solutions to help them manage this risk and reduce their exposure to toxic pollution.

Air quality data providers and those intending to use air quality data for commercial or public purposes have a responsibility to understand the information they are using and to ensure it is actually relevant for users turning to their information to make more informed and practical decisions on a daily basis: Decisions like taking an alternative route to work or heading to a different park when the air quality is poor.

Measuring and reporting on air quality is a complex business, but the process of evaluating and understanding the reliability of a data source is arguably even harder.

You may wonder why the air quality data source you use even matters…this is why:

1. Air Pollution Information Has Real-World Consequences for People’s Health

Individuals rely on air quality data to help them make decisions on a daily basis. For sufferers of pre-existing respiratory conditions like Asthma or COPD, the consequences of unreliable information can be devastating. Sufferers of chronic respiratory conditions are particularly vulnerable to all forms of air pollution; research has recently found that exposure to traffic fumes result in 4 million new child asthma cases each year and for the first time in history, a young girl’s cause of death has been linked to illegal levels of air pollution in London.

The rise in demand for pollution information makes sense but in order for people to truly benefit from access data, it needs to be trustworthy and reliable for the application in question. If it’s not, real lives will be put at risk.

2. Outdated Air Quality Information Isn’t Useful Right Now

Few understand how dynamic and fast-changing air quality truly is. Air quality fluctuates on an hourly basis and can show differently at any given time from street to street. In practical terms, this means that if the air quality is poor at 11AM, it won’t help to receive air pollution levels as they were recorded at 4AM, when fewer cars were on the road, less industrial activity was going on, and there were lower levels of harmful Ozone while the sun was down.

3. Coverage Differs Dramatically

Each provider varies dramatically when it comes to the sources they use, the pollutants they measure, and their geographical level of coverage. If the data source you’re turning to only reports information on 1 out of the 6 common air pollutants, do you really want your users to base their decision-making on such an incomplete picture?

Download Our Guide to Evaluating Air Quality Data

To help both the public and businesses understand the differences between air quality data sources, the team at BreezoMeter have created a comprehensive Guide to Evaluating Air Quality Data.

This resource will help you ask the right questions of any air quality data source you plan to use, for yourself, for research, or for a product or marketing campaign.