Regretting the “insufficiency” of government data, citizen groups in Limoilou began Tuesday afternoon to install 75 fine particle sensors to better measure air quality in their area.
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Installed on land in Vieux-Limoilou, Lairet and Maizerets, these sensors will enable real-time, i.e. every two minutes, regular monitoring of air quality. The concentration of fine particles emitted into the air will thus be measured for one year.
These microscopic particles, as tiny as one-twentieth of a human hair, are responsible for the premature death of 7 to 8 million people annually around the world, according to Guillaume Simard, committed citizen and professor-researcher.
Currently, in Quebec, the measurements are made using a single government sensor. A second is to be added soon. However, this is clearly insufficient, consider organizations in the sector, including neighborhood councils.
Not a substitute
“This network is not intended to replace a possible state network. What we believe, however, is that this state network should have been installed a long time ago,” lamented Raymond Poirier, president of the Vieux-Limoilou district council.
According to him, “the government has not done its homework, diligently, to seek out conclusive information in the neighborhoods of Limoilou before making decisions such as raising nickel standards”.
The project to install these 75 sensors will cost $40,000, financed up to $30,500 by the Caisse Desjardins and by the budget envelope of Sol Zanetti, deputy in solidarity with this sector.
Anxiety
The first sensor was installed in Vieux-Limoilou on the balcony of Séréna Bilodeau, who holds a bachelor’s degree in environment from Laval University. “Last summer, I tried to make a garden on my balcony. Can’t grow anything here. The vegetables I harvested were black as soon as they emerged from the plant (…) Even opening the doors and windows is impossible because it makes the whole house dirty,” she said.
The latter said she was particularly “anxious” for her health and for that of her cat “who has asthma problems”.
“Living here, every day, it kills us a little more and it makes us sick,” she worried.
