Mapping Air Pollutants With 2BTechnologies Personal Air Monitor

Along the Road to the White House No-Excuses Tour, CPR Initiative General Counsel & Executive Director Dan Galpern is using the Personal Air Monitor or PAM developed by 2BTechnologies for mapping air pollutants encountered en-route. According to 2BTech, “PAM is designed to measure only the air pollutants for which sensors are highly reliable, which includes particulate matter (PM₁, PM_2.5), carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO₂),” and “is now used in a wide range of applications such as monitoring of smoke by the National Forest Service during forest fires…” 

The pollutants measured by the PAM are all products of combustion, which means it is one of the best ways to track and map pollution originating from automobile exhaust, power plants, forest fires and other combustion sources (2BTechnologies). However, as pointed out in the product description, the most important measurements to look out for are the PM_2.5 and PM₁ “because only particles smaller than 2.5 µm enter the lungs where they have adverse health effects such as triggering asthma attacks.” 

Conveniently, Dan can also measure levels of CO₂ in the air with this portable device. And as 2BTech sums up perfectly, this pollutant is particularly “of interest outdoors because it is the principal greenhouse gas responsible for global warming.” However, “CO₂ [also] builds up inside [of] buildings due to human respiration and affects human cognitive abilities at concentrations above about 1,000 ppm.”

Now you can view the data collected by the PAM that Dan is carrying as he makes his way to the White House where he will hand deliver the CPR Initiative Petition to President Biden, urging him to direct the EPA to Impose a Rising Fee on Carbon Pollution Without Further Delay. See our Petition.