Use of Purpleair data to support legal action

General
1

Hello,

This forum doesn’t seem very active so this is a general query.

Has anyone pursued (or is pursuing) any legal cases over poor air quality and doing so with the use of Purpleair data?

Air quality in my residential neighborhood should be very good in general because I live quite high up and close to the coast. However, it is remarkable how much some neighbours engage in burning open fires. Their purpose is almost certainly for waste disposal. It is completely unnecessary, since we have good domestic waste services, and utterly disgusting.

The drop in air quality, and the signatures of local fires, are extremely clear from the data. Open fires cause dramatic “spikes” in the particulate levels and can be seen clearly on the time traces for most sensors in the U.K. and Europe in winter time. In fact, in winter time when there is no wind, the accumulation of air particulate from burning is astonishing. I have seen measurements routinely between 200 and 300 AQI in some areas.

It is really sad that with all this great data showing how bad the problem is, there is so little we can do bring about real improvements.

I would be very interested in any feedback on this.
Thanks!

2

I would inquire with the agency responsible for regulating air quality in your area and ask them how to report violations.

In our area, the act of burning during non-burning days is enough to merit a response; they don’t need a sensor to show poor air quality to act.

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