It is difficult to grasp the question of the tools for observing air quality as a whole, because the composition of the air we breathe is vast and complex. But the policies framed to protect the environment and our health are based on the measurements made by these tools. If, for instance, we look just at particulate matter, there are several ways of observing and quantifying exposure: size distribution; chemical-species content; and mass concentration. But each measurement only takes into account one type of physico-chemical property of the relevant pollutants. Measuring mass concentration is one of the simplest processes to automate, but we need to develop measurements that do more to include the many properties of particles that come into play when they interact with human biology, in order to gain a better understanding of their health impacts.
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Compléments
Protection(s) : Marquage social (PDF), Marquage social (ePub)
Climate-change challenges in mountain areas
Samuel MORIN - chercheur en météorologie (université Grenoble-Alpes, Météo-France, CNRS, Centre national de recherches météorologiques)