AQ-CARE: Air Quality—Community Action, Resilience and Empowerment

This project has three major goals:

• Increase air quality monitoring in communities that previously had limited access to air quality data, by working with partners to deploy low-cost portable air quality sensors.
• Increase public awareness of these local air quality sensors, how to understand the air quality data, and how to use this information to protect health.
• Better understand how much outdoor smoke is getting into our community buildings, and what can be done to protect indoor air.

Wildfire smoke is a mixture of small particles and gases. Very small particles in wildfire smoke, also known as fine particulate matter (PM2.5), can travel deep into the lungs when breathed in, can cross into the bloodstream, and cause inflammation throughout the body. This can have both short-term and longer-lasting health impacts.

People with pre-existing chronic conditions (e.g. asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), heart disease, and diabetes), people who are pregnant, infants and young children, and older adults are particularly susceptible to the health effects of wildfire smoke.

Measurements of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) are typically used to monitor wildfire smoke. This is because PM2.5 is the air pollutant most consistently elevated by wildfire smoke, has known health impacts, and it is measured by networks of government monitors.

Many Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) communities don’t have government air quality monitoring stations to measure particulate matter. Through the AQ-CARE project VCH works with community organizations to install portable air quality sensors for PM2.5 with a focus on rural, remote, and smaller communities that would otherwise have limited access to local air quality data.

The sensors provided by VCH measure fine particulate matter (PM2.5). PM2.5 is made up of tiny particles that float in the air. Major sources of PM2.5 in our region include wildfire smoke and smoke from wood-burning stoves and fireplaces. Other sources of PM2.5 in our region include traffic, industry, and heavy-duty equipment.

Publicly available data can be found in real-time on the map below. This map includes data from VCH AQ-CARE sensors, other low-cost air quality sensors in the region and across the country, and government air quality monitoring stations.

For public messaging and resources to use and share with your community, including translations, see the VCH wildfire smoke page.    

For specific information about childcare facilities and schools, visit the Resources for Schools and Childcare Facilities page. Information for other sectors is also available at the VCH wildfire smoke page. 

Low-cost portable sensors tend to perform well but are not government air quality monitoring stations. At times low-cost sensors may overestimate or underestimate the actual concentration of PM2.5. It is important to check the sensor closest to you and compare it with other low-cost sensors and regulatory monitoring stations close by on the map. Some questions you can ask yourself are:

• Is the sensor you are looking at much different than the sensors close by? Why could this be?
•  If the readings are unusually high, is the sensor near a local source of particulate matter, such as wood-burning, industry, or traffic? 
• If there is no clear source, could this sensor be malfunctioning?  

For this project, we are working with First Nations communities, local governments, and community organizations that serve people at higher risk from wildfire smoke and operate in the VCH region. If you are interested in any of the following options, please email us to learn more: healthy.environments@vch.ca.  

Help address gaps in local air quality data for your community, and learn about air quality near you: If you are interested in outdoor or indoor air quality monitoring, please reach out to us. 

Community engagement: Our team may be available to attend community events, share resources, or give presentations to local organizations’ staff or volunteers, as well as the public. 

Go to the VCH Air Quality webpage  

Go to the VCH Wildfire Smoke webpage