Citizen invests in Staunton's first air quality station monitor to benefit community

STAUNTON — Elizabeth Szabo never really thought about the air quality in a mountain town like Staunton until the Canadian wildfires turned the sky brown.

“It was really awful, and I had never seen anything like that before,” said Szabo. She began to research the impact of air quality and discovered there were no air quality stations in the area. “I just really wanted to help contribute to the data.”

She and her husband, Paul Tolar, started out by purchasing an indoor air monitor that also displays the outdoor air quality index. They both decided to make the investment and purchase an outdoor air quality station monitor via IQAir.

“It was $300 for each,” said Szabo, who spent a total of $600 for the indoor air monitor and the outdoor station monitor from IQAir. “Because we’re not considered low income or a nonprofit organization, they weren’t willing to pay for it, but it was still worth it to me. I just feel like it’s a big contribution to the community.”

For nonprofit organizations, schools and low-income families, IQAir has a program that will sponsor a monitor.

“That’s likely how Albemarle High School got theirs,” she said, in reference to an IQAir station monitor used by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality to report the air quality index.

When the wildfires were causing issues with the air quality, Szabo said she was measuring the data constantly and knew they needed to close the windows and turn on the air purifier. “If you have the ability to do that, it’s so helpful.”

“The wildfire smoke is not just burning forest,” said Szabo. “It’s burning houses. It’s burning cars, batteries, plastic. So, it’s a mix of really toxic carcinogenic chemicals.”

Learning about the impact of particulate matter was especially scary, she said, because those are particles small enough to enter our bloodstream.

“I had the strangest headache. We didn’t feel well, and I imagine that there’s a lot of people who were not feeling well at that time and didn’t even realize why.”

That's the good news. The bad news is that the AQI readings we see on our apps may cause us to underestimate the dangerous conditions on bad-air days.

Local reading shows air quality is worse than we thought

The IQAir outdoor station monitor is connected to WiFi so that it can upload data in real time. Anyone can view the data at IQAir.com or download the app. Szabo’s station is labeled Sears Hill.

The local reading on Monday, July 17, just after noon was 161, which is unhealthy for everyone, and especially dangerous for children, seniors and those with sensitivity to air pollutants.

By comparison, Accuweather's AQI for Staunton measured 122. BreezoMeter, which is the source for AQI data for the default weather app on many iPhones, had a 102 measurement.

Senior meteorologist Bob Larson at AccuWeather said the air quality index is a moving target. "Much like temperature, it changes constantly."

"Some apps may access data every few hours vs real time, so it matters how fresh the data is," he said regarding variances seen app to app. Larson's source for AQI is AirNow.gov which is run by the EPA and collects data from monitoring stations across the country. The measurements of pollutant concentrations are collected hourly or daily and then entered into EPA's Air Quality System database.

Szabo has reached out to the EPA and spoke to someone at the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality about using the new Staunton IQAir monitor for their data.

"He said he would research whether our data can be used to determine Staunton's AQI and would email me with a response," said Szabo.

The air quality is forecast to improve over the next several days, but that doesn't mean it's the last time we'll worry about it. “I do think that the wildfires are going to keep occurring,” said Szabo. “We are going to have to get used to that. I think it’s not something that’s going to go away due to climate change.”

Working for accuracy

IQAir worked with Szabo and Tolar step-by-step to make sure the monitor was operating properly and ran through all of the checks to validate data. They calibrate the monitor and validate the data before it is published online, said Szabo. Placement is also important in terms of air flow and how low and high off the ground it needs to be. “So you’re not wondering if it’s accurate or not.”

The device has to be at least five feet up from any potential splashes, like rain or weather. IQAir recommends that it’s not much higher than 16 feet. The area they chose also gives the monitor a little more protection, she said.

“The only vulnerable piece is the bottom because that’s where the sensors are. So far, it’s stayed dry. We think it’s in a pretty good location that seems to be safe from weather.” Part of the process is sending IQAir photographs of the monitor’s location.

Overall, Szabo thinks that having the data available to the community will help people make better decisions. What the area had been seeing is either an average of stations, stations that are not close or data via satellite imagery.

“Now, I think this will hopefully empower people to want to learn more and to pay attention,” she said. “Maybe more people will buy monitors and we’ll have more data, and we can make sure that we’re double checking each other’s data. I think it’s something that we’re going to be forced to pay attention to.”

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Monique Calello is a health & community news journalist at The News Leader. Story ideas are always welcome. You can reach her at mcalello@newsleader.com.

This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: IQAir: Staunton air quality index station monitor