
Results of massive NO2 measurement experiment in Flanders (map+graph,Dutch text) - Tharkun
http://www.standaard.be/curieuzeneuzen/map/
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Tharkun
Some background information: in attempt to gain insight into air quality, 20k
people installed NO2 measuring devices in front of their homes for a month.
Spread out throughout the northern half of Belgium.

NO2 is only one aspect of air pollution, but it's a pretty good proxy for for
general air pollution. Most airborne NO2 comes from internal combustion
engines, which are also a significant source of other kinds of air pollution
(particulate matter etc).

The results are pretty disturbing. Most people in Flanders essentially don't
breathe clean air.

~~~
gus_massa
> _The results are pretty disturbing. Most people in Flanders essentially don
> 't breathe clean air._

But in the autotranslation of the page with more details that I could find is
not so bad:
[https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&u=...](https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.standaard.be%2Fcnt%2Fdmf20180928_03792243)

> _2.3 percent of the measuring points, or 410 locations, is above the norm.
> Up to 150,000 people live up to Flanders. Exceedances occur in a third of
> all municipalities. Although the question is how relevant that limit is. The
> WHO is currently in a process to review the recommended exposure limits. The
> outcome is only expected in 2020, but it is probably going to 30 μg / m3.
> That changes the picture for Flanders. 12.5 percent of the measuring points
> are above 30 μg / m3, which corresponds to the residence of about 813,000
> Flemings. An orange ball in the street is not immediately reassuring. In
> addition, the WHO uses a 'threshold value' of 20 μg / m3. From then on,
> health effects occur. 60 percent of the measuring points are above the WHO
> threshold._

~~~
Tharkun
Those 800k people are about 1/7th of the population in the area. So it's not
super reassuring.

