Air pollution is damaging to our health.

Now Cork City Council is launching the largest ever fact-finding mission into our air quality in an effort to reduce pollution and clean up the air we breathe as the city grows.

Over 1,000 volunteers will be posted a measuring tube to install outside their chosen location from October 3rd to 27th, 2022. Over this measurement period, the tubes will measure levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in their local area.

Nitrogen dioxide is a pollutant gas that mainly comes from vehicle traffic. Being exposed to NO2 gas, even just for short periods, can have harmful effects on our health and wellbeing.

The monitors will then be taken down and posted to a laboratory for analysis. Finally, all the results will be displayed on a map on the Clean Air Together website.

Inspired by an experiment called CurieuzeNeuzen (Curious Noses) in Belgium, the project was successfully run in Dublin last year.

The Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr, Deirdre Forde will launch the Clean Air Together (Cork City) collaborative project between the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Environmental Education Unit of An Taisce at the Shandon Bells on August 22nd.

Cork City Council hopes the data recorded during the project will lead to the creation of data-based air quality models and affect policy-change by working in partnership with stakeholders.