Gabriola Island Clean Air Society

In August of 2016, the Gabriola Island Clear Air Society brought online the first PurpleAir sensor network in Canada. Our sensor network has documented extensively the staggering amount of air pollution coming from wood stoves and fireplaces on our tiny island. As the number of PurpleAir sensors expanded across the province and elsewhere in Canada, many began to raise questions about the accuracy of these low-cost devices. There have been several studies to-date that all show the same thing: these devices work, are accurate, reliable, and fill in gaps in air quality monitoring. The newest study from Australia by Dr. Dorothy Robinson provides definitive evidence that should quash any concerns about using PurpleAir sensors. See the study here .  Gabriola Island Clean Air Society director Dr. Michael Mehta has the following to say about this study. This paper provides empirical evidence to show that the use of low-cost PM2.5 monitors for measuring air quality on a distributed basis ha...

For years the province's preeminent charitable organization for all things respiratory, the BC Lung Association, has been receiving money from the provincial government to administer a flawed program to exchange wood stoves. As we've stated elsewhere on this blog, EPA wood stoves are not the answer and emit massive amounts of particulate and other kinds of pollution that contradict the efforts of BC Lung and others to protect public health. By putting their name and team behind the wood stove exchange program, BC Lung is jeopardizing the health of thousands of people. We strongly recommend that they discontinue their support of this program and speak out against all kinds of wood burning practices. One can hardly support lung health research while at the same time willingly and obstinately ignoring a major exposure pathway to lung and heart disease. An earlier call for action provides more details. See here . According to a Senior Air Quality Scientist with the BC Min...