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Take a deep breath, what did you take in? Air of course!!
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mixture of oxygen and nitrogen and small amounts of carbon
dioxide, argon and water vapour. This is the air we breathe.
Breathing fresh air seems something no one should worry about.
But last fifty years has seen a drastic change in
the composition of air which we know as air pollution. You must
have heard this resulting in increase in Earth’s
temperature, making rains acidic, damaging our lungs ...
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Monitoring air
quality in a sensitive area
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CLEAN-India members tried to find out what’s
really up in the air.....
What's in the air?
Just
A Minute Before You Breathe: CLEAN-India
Monitors Air
Quality
Clean Air, Nowhere : Our Findings
Monitoring air quality during Diwali
What Can You Do For Clean
Air?
Activities
to Test how Safe is the Air Around You
Simple Steps to Clean Air
Just
A Minute Before You Breathe
:
CLEAN-India
monitors Air
Quality
Under the CLEAN-India
programme, students are made aware of the the
sources, types and impacts of air pollution through discussions, slide shows and
activities . After this, air
quality monitoring is conducted with the help of Pawan-TARA
air testing kit for the analysis of respirable
suspended
particulate matter (RSPM), sulphur dioxide (So2)
and
nitrogen oxides (Nox).
The air quality monitoring process begins by
providing hands-on training on using the Pawan TARA kit.
How
Is Air Quality Monitored?
The air quality
monitoring is a one day activity where four to eight hours are
required for sampling the air. Schools begin with monitoring the
air
at the school premises and then move on to other critical sites
in their zone like traffic junctions, market places or industrial
areas. At sites outside the school, students also engage in
other activities like surveying people directly exposed to air
pollution like the traffic police and noting down numbers of polluting
vehicles and further informing to the pollution control cell.
Distributing material on introducing simple ways to reduce air pollution or
conducting a street play to increase public awareness are also
carried out enthusiastically.
Clean Air, Nowhere : Our Findings
DELHI: Air was
found to be of poor quality at all the traffic junctions and
market places monitored. Air samples even from school
premises have presence of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and
suspended particulate matter much above permissible limits. The
reason being fleet of school buses and the number of cars and
scooters used by children for commuting to school.
The results of monitoring are published in leading newspapers
and also announced in the school assembly. Schools have also taken
up the initiative of car-pooling.
click
here for detailed air monitoring findings
Monitoring Air Quality during Diwali Festival
Come
Diwali, the
festival of lights, and there are a score of crackers blowing up
in the air. It obviously effects human health but also impacts trees
and plants that are covered with thick layer of Sulphur dust
and suspended particulate matter. This blocks the stomata (pores
on leaves), obstructing the photosynthesis process. In simpler
words trees are prevented from releasing oxygen and moisture
into the air. While bursting crackers, have you ever thought
that what harm is done to the birds nests?
CLEAN-India has
been monitoring the quality of air during Diwali and
comparing the difference in the quality of air during their normal
process of monitoring. With the help of Pawan-TARA kit they monitor
the quality of air a day before, during and after Diwali. Believe
it or not there is an alarming difference in the air quality especially the day after
Diwali. To create awareness, CLEAN-India members have been campaigning
against crackers, employing creative methods like
street plays, rallies etc. and have effectively spread the
message to children and adults.
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