In parts of Memphis, windows is forcing people to stay indoors more and more, and people are sick and tired of living this way. That's a literal statement, in many cases.
When the Memphis Community Against Pollution stepped up with a $250,000 boost for real-time air quality monitoring, folks paid attention.
According to The Commercial Appeal, the funding, announced July 2, will go toward installing nine air quality sensors across the city.
"Today is a step in our fight back," MCAP founder and state Rep. Justin J. Pearson said with urgency. "We're here because our community deserves the truth about the air that we breathe and deserves tools to protect our health and our future."
Experts have linked air pollution to multiple health issues, including respiratory issues, dementia curtailing polluting gases emitted by coal-powered plants, these types of measures will become increasingly important.
These sensors won't just count particles in the air. They'll track pollutants like nitrogen oxides, ozone, and fine particulate matter — the kind of stuff linked to lung issues and heart disease. Pearson said they'll even account for wind patterns to help trace where pollution is coming from.
MCAP is teaming up with the Maryland-based Center for Engagement, Environmental Justice and Health to get the system running. CEEJH director of research and policy Vivek Ravichandran told The Commercial Appeal that this will include training Memphis residents on how to read and use the data.
The tech involved includes six PurpleAir monitors and three MODULAIR sensors. The former already feeds into a public online map. Ravichandran said the groups are working on sharing MODULAIR data as well. The first step is calibrating devices at an EPA-approved site in Shelby Farms.
All of this comes after Memphis ran a limited two-day test earlier this year that critics called incomplete. That test didn't check for ozone — something the new MODULAIR sensors will monitor. The goal now is clarity and access, not guesswork.
"Right I have bronchitis and my mother has COPD. In south Memphis," one supporter said on YouTube.
"Good news for Memphis!" another wrote.
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