Gabriola Island Clean Air Society

Here once again is the power of data and the "swarming" approach that we have on Gabriola Island and elsewhere thanks to low-cost, realtime air quality sensors made available through PurpleAir. Our 8 sensors on Gabriola Island show the hyperlocal effects of wood burning on local air sheds. The Berry Point Road sensor is showing a sustained and dangerous pattern of particulate pollution for the past hour. You should also note the sawtooth pattern on roughly an hourly basis that accompanies wood burning from wood stoves and fireplaces. This is an extremely risky environment to live around, yet the cognitive dissonance and the rationalizations of those who generate problems like this create blind spots. This is why regulation and a proactive position by local governments is needed, and also why other organizations like the BC Lung Association need to come out strong against all wood burning.

Just another day here on Gabriola Island and another example of the hyper local effects of wood burning on air quality. This particular chimney (connected to an EPA airtight wood stove) is almost solely responsible for these unacceptably high readings. Note the other readings on the island from our "swarm" of PurpleAir sensors to see the localization of the effect.

Here's a good example from our 8 PurpleAir sensors on Gabriola Island of industrial pollution affecting the entire region. We're guessing that this is pollution from the Harmac mill in Nanaimo given the shape of the curve, distribution and timing at different sensors with those located closer to the mill spiking first. There was a uniform increase in levels across all sensors between 7-8PM tonight. This rules out other sources like domestic wood burning although a more detail-oriented eye will see those spikes as well within individual patterns - it may also suggest the arrival of an inversion.

The HPBA is the main lobby group for the wood stove industry, and a major driver behind wood stove exchange programs. Look at how they're marketing their 2017 Expo and tell us again why you want to be any part of this BC Lung. See http://hpbexpo.com

Here's another excellent example of how wood burning for home heating pollutes a neighbourhood. Look at how clean the air is in most other locations. Our sensor on Jolly Brothers Road on Gabriola Island went into the hazardous zone, and the see-saw pattern is wood burning without a doubt.

There are lots of ways to look at measurements for air pollution and different time frames that people and regulators look at. If we look at the weekly average  for particulate at the PM 2.5 scale across several PurpleAir sensors, some interesting and troubling trends become evident. Here are some 7 day averages from a sample of sensors in British Columbia and one wild card sensor - downtown Los Angeles near Dodger Stadium. LA is known around the world for the poor quality of its air. Here's what we see. The worst weekly average in Canada can be found in Prince George BC with 16.06. Prince George has an active pulp and paper mill, other significant sources of industrial pollution, and lots of people who burn wood for residential heating. In Parksville we see a weekly average of 10.85. This is mostly a retirement community on Vancouver Island and the readings from this sensor are likely due fully to wood smoke emissions from residential sources. One of our sensor...

Wood smoke will be BC Lung's tainted blood scandal one day. Tainted air!