New network of air quality sensors to warn of health risks

People with respiratory illnesses may soon benefit from real-time warnings about dangerous smoke and air pollution, as The University of the West Indies (UWI) leads efforts to deploy an unprecedented network of air quality sensors across the island.

The initiative, in partnership with national agencies, is designed to give schools, businesses, and households more time to prepare and reduce their exposure to hazardous air conditions.

The Centre for Biosecurity Studies at The UWI, Cave Hill Campus is collaborating with partners such as the Barbados Meteorological Services (BMS) and the Department of Emergency Management (DEM) to roll out the project.

Director Dr Kirk Douglas told Barbados TODAY his facility has installed 20 predictive sensors, with the Met Office in the process of putting in another 80 across Barbados.

He said: “What that will do is increase the density of the sensors, so the network would be a lot denser, and that would, hopefully, increase the predictability… because, part of it, what we want to do is to be able to have an app where an early warning system [could be in place] in the same way the Met Office has one for flash flooding… so that people, when there is a fire can be informed of the impact it would have to schools, to businesses and just the average normal householder, so they would be able to prepare and know what is coming their way.

“Oftentimes, you don’t know and the smoke hits and you say ‘oh dear’ and you have to close…whether it is school, general business or whatever the case may be. So, we are hoping to give persons more lead time, so that they can prepare better.”

Dr Douglas said he hopes all 100 sensors will be in place before the peak of the fire season next year.

“It means we will have the full complement installed. The 80 with the 20 is a lot,” he said. “I don’t think there is any CARICOM country that has the number that we have, even at 20. So, that tells you we are really pushing the envelope where this is concerned. We think it is necessary to be able to…if someone, for instance, had a fire where they are open-burning… That’s another thing we are going to advocate for, to see if we can curtail on the island. We know it is a complex issue. It is not simply an air quality issue, it is also a waste management issue because people would not burn rubbish if they had an ideal way of getting rid of it.”

He noted that part of the issue is cultural and relates to human behaviour.

Dr Douglas related a case in England where a nine-year-old girl died from a series of asthma attacks triggered by peak air pollution.

“When they did the autopsy, they showed her lungs,” he said. “Her lungs were like those of a 60-year-old serial smoker; and she never smoked. But that was just from breathing air. And the point was that while you can avoid drinking dirty water, you cannot avoid breathing. It is a necessary thing. The UN has just passed a resolution where it is a human right to live in a clean, sustainable environment. So when you pollute the air, you are actually guilty of human rights violation. So, the legal framework, the legal environment has now shifted tremendously.”

Dr Douglas said the family successfully sued the City of London based on the premise that the girl had no choice but to breathe.

“I don’t want it to come to that in Barbados,” the UWI researcher declared. “We already know that we have challenges. I would like to see us move in a concerted way to reduce the pollution, because I believe that some of it is very unnecessary; and whatever burning or whatever has to be done, it has to be done in a controlled manner. I don’t think the permit to burn is the answer because anybody who gets a burn permit can still make their neighbours sick. So, it is something we still have to take a closer look at.” (EJ)