-
What type of organization best describes you?
We are a collaboration of local public health, non-profits, and local jurisdictions located in Lane County, Oregon, USA. The lead applicant is Lane County government (Public Health division)–please note that we have a budget crisis and do not have internal funds for sensors. Big needs, big plans, no funding! -
Describe your organization.
Our collaboration consists of Public Health, a school district, a city’s park and recreation program, several non-profits, and a few jurisdictions. Our Public Health Emergency Preparedness Outreach Coordinator is leading this air quality monitoring team, responding to community surveys that have identified wildfire smoke as a top concern, impacting both mental and physical health. -
Describe your project.
Due primarily to wildfire smoke, Lane County has some of the worst air quality in the country (the American Lung Association ranked our main metro area, Eugene/Springfield, in the top 5 most polluted cities in their 2025 report). With a geographic size of Connecticut, a topography prone to air inversions, and a population experiencing high rates of poverty and asthma, our county needs to educate about the impacts of wildfire smoke on health and how to minimize exposure to it. In order to do this, we need tools like PurpleAir sensors that will show in real time how clean the air is and how various actions impact air quality. There are many outdoor sensors already available so we want to focus on placing sensors indoors to help partners know how clean the air is inside the buildings they occupy. Schools and spaces where children spend time will be prioritized for where these sensors are placed. Other locations will include spaces where other “sensitive groups” congregate such as senior centers and rural community support centers (e.g. food pantries).
Coupling the sensors with an education campaign about wildfire smoke impacts on health and ways to reduce exposure to it will motivate needed behavior changes such as closing windows, doors, and external vents when the outdoor air quality is poor and minimizing activities that generate indoor air pollution like vacuuming. We need to create an “Air Aware” culture in Lane County and having PurpleAir sensors will be a key strategy for doing this.
We had plans in place to start this work this Spring using funding from a US EPA grant but unfortunately this funding was recently canceled. The need, the motivation, and the team to do this work has not gone away.
- Which PurpleAir model(s) are you interested in and how many would you want for your project?
We are requesting 16-20 PurpleAir Touch (indoor sensor model).