UBC team deploys pollution-sniffing mobile lab

A research team at the University of British Columbia has deployed an air pollution lab on wheels. The Portable Laboratory for Understanding Human-Made Emissions (PLUME) is a “pollution-sniffing” mobile lab that can measure concentrations of pollutants such as carbon monoxide, ground-level ozone, black carbon, and ultra-fine particles that affect air quality. The team is focused on understanding air quality and its implications for environmental injustice in the Vancouver region and is already collecting information about unpleasant smells in Metro Vancouver. “Our most socially and materially deprived communities are frequently exposed to disproportionate levels of air pollution and it’s important to understand their experience of air quality,” explained UBC Professor Dr Naomi Zimmerman, who developed PLUME. “If we can start publishing maps of link to air quality and odour that would be really exciting.” UBC has also shared news about a recycling project led by doctoral student Melody Salehzadeh, whose initiative has diverted nearly 50,000 single-use nitrile and latex gloves from the landfill. UBC (1)| UBC (2) Note: Archived stories may contain dead links or be missing source links.