Cheap air pollution monitoring for Map Ta Phut: Trace source of toxic chemical emissions in real time
By Jon Fernquest
In
the ongoing Map
Ta Phut industrial closure saga both sides are making
conflicting claims about polution. Today's article is about a new low cost tool for determining exactly who is polluting when they are polluting.
Article begins after vocabulary:
Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate - one
of Thailand's largest industrial estates located in Rayong
(See interactive
map)
industrial park, industrial estate - a special area especially for factories with special facilities (roads, transportation, water, electricity, waste disposal) (See Wikipedia)
industrial closure - closing factories, stopping production
saga - a long story that goes on and on for years or even generations
monitor - to watch and check for problems while something happens
ongoing - currently happening
trace source of Y - look for and find where Y is coming from (which factory)
emission - the release into the air of a chemical gas
toxic chemical emission - poisonous chemical
industrial emissions - when factories release chemicals into the air
real time - happens immediately without delay in real time (for example: immediate measurement without delay)
industrial park, industrial estate - a special area especially for factories with special facilities (roads, transportation, water, electricity, waste disposal) (See Wikipedia)
industrial closure - closing factories, stopping production
saga - a long story that goes on and on for years or even generations
monitor - to watch and check for problems while something happens
ongoing - currently happening
trace source of Y - look for and find where Y is coming from (which factory)
emission - the release into the air of a chemical gas
toxic chemical emission - poisonous chemical
industrial emissions - when factories release chemicals into the air
real time - happens immediately without delay in real time (for example: immediate measurement without delay)
ENVIRONMENT
'Bucket brigade' to monitor Map Ta Phut air pollution
21/10/2009Apinya Wipatayotin
A US-based environmental group is helping Map Ta Phut villagers set up a "bucket brigade" to test air quality in their hometown.
The bucket brigades developed by Global Community Monitor (GCM) allow members to monitor the air quality of industrial sites using an air sampling device housed inside an 18-litre plastic bucket.
bucket brigade - a
low cost air pollution monitoring device (See webpage)
Global Community Monitor (GCM) - the name of the organisation that produces the new pollution monitoring device (See website)
industrial sites - areas with a lot of factories
air sampling device - a tool for collecting some air for testing
housed inside Y - installed or contained inside Y
housing for Y - the container used to protect Y
housed inside an 18-litre plastic bucket - contained within a plastic bucket (that can hold 18 litres of water)
Global Community Monitor (GCM) - the name of the organisation that produces the new pollution monitoring device (See website)
industrial sites - areas with a lot of factories
air sampling device - a tool for collecting some air for testing
housed inside Y - installed or contained inside Y
housing for Y - the container used to protect Y
housed inside an 18-litre plastic bucket - contained within a plastic bucket (that can hold 18 litres of water)
The tool was developed in northern California in 1995 by the environmental engineering firm to simplify and reduce the cost of widely accepted methods used for testing toxic gases in the atmosphere.
Penchom sae Tang, director of the Ecological Alert and Recovery-Thailand, GCM's partner, said people affected by air pollution should be able to detect toxic substances in the air so they could help state agencies crack down on polluters.
toxic gases
- poisonous
gases
atmosphere - the air in a place
ecology (noun) - the study of the relationship between animals, humans, plants, and their environment and the balance maintained in these relationships
ecological (adjective) - having to do with ecology
Ecological Alert and Recovery-Thailand - an organisation that monitors for ecological and pollution problems giving warnings and working to recover from the problem
detect toxic substances - find out and discover then their is a dangerous pois
crack down on polluters - enforce pollution laws and punish polluters
atmosphere - the air in a place
ecology (noun) - the study of the relationship between animals, humans, plants, and their environment and the balance maintained in these relationships
ecological (adjective) - having to do with ecology
Ecological Alert and Recovery-Thailand - an organisation that monitors for ecological and pollution problems giving warnings and working to recover from the problem
detect toxic substances - find out and discover then their is a dangerous pois
crack down on polluters - enforce pollution laws and punish polluters
The idea to set up the bucket brigade in Map Ta Phut was introduced during a workshop on air pollution monitoring by local people held in Bangkok this week.
"Having an easy-to-use tool to collect air samples will enable the villagers to come up with reliable results for monitoring air quality," Ms Penchom said.
a workshop - a small class
where people learn something practical task by doing the task
collect air samples - get the air at different places (so you can check it for polution)
come up with Y - discover, find
reliable - works and operates as planned
results - what is produced in the end by an activity or task
come up with reliable results - make findings about facts that you can trust
monitoring air quality - to continually check air quality to make sure it remains good
collect air samples - get the air at different places (so you can check it for polution)
come up with Y - discover, find
reliable - works and operates as planned
results - what is produced in the end by an activity or task
come up with reliable results - make findings about facts that you can trust
monitoring air quality - to continually check air quality to make sure it remains good
As well as the bucket tool, the Real Time UV Ambient Air Monitoring Equipment - a more advanced system - has been developed to help test air quality in the pollution-affected community, she said.
The device, which costs about one million baht, can detect 12 pollutant chemicals in the air including benzene, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, mercury and ammonia, Ms Penchom said during the demonstration of the equipment at Kasetsart intersection yesterday. It can take an air sample every 30 seconds and display results immediately on a laptop computer.
GCM executive director Denny Larson said pollution test results could become available without having to send air samples for laboratory tests.
"There are many fixed air-quality monitoring stations in Map Ta Phut, but these fixed stations cannot tell us where the pollution is from," Mr Larson said.
"With this handy air monitoring machine, we can check whether the amount of toxic chemical emission is beyond the safety standard at the pollution source."
ambient - something
like air or sound that is all around you
ambient air - the air around us
Real Time UV Ambient Air Monitoring Equipment - a machine that checks the quality of air and shows changes exactly when they happen
detect 12 pollutant chemicals - know or indicate when the poluting chemicals exist in a place
benzene, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, mercury, ammonia - the air pollutants that will be detected by the new device (See Wikipedia on air pollutants)
demonstration of the equipment - show how the equipment operates and what it does
send air samples for laboratory tests - send air taken from different places to test for pollution in a laboratory
station - a place where some activity takes place (for example: power station, police station, fire station, space station, way station)
fixed stations - a station that does not move (opposite: mobile)
fixed air-quality monitoring stations - a place where air quality is continually measured
pollution source - some place that creates pollution (like a factory)
ambient air - the air around us
Real Time UV Ambient Air Monitoring Equipment - a machine that checks the quality of air and shows changes exactly when they happen
detect 12 pollutant chemicals - know or indicate when the poluting chemicals exist in a place
benzene, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, mercury, ammonia - the air pollutants that will be detected by the new device (See Wikipedia on air pollutants)
demonstration of the equipment - show how the equipment operates and what it does
send air samples for laboratory tests - send air taken from different places to test for pollution in a laboratory
station - a place where some activity takes place (for example: power station, police station, fire station, space station, way station)
fixed stations - a station that does not move (opposite: mobile)
fixed air-quality monitoring stations - a place where air quality is continually measured
pollution source - some place that creates pollution (like a factory)
(Source: Bangkok Post, 'Bucket brigade' to monitor Map Ta Phut air pollution, 21/10/2009, Apinya Wipatayotin, link)
