There was a project in Los Angeles recently, to involve young people in participatory science, wearing air monitors to measure their own exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5). The program was called A Day In The Life, and partnered youth environmental justice organizations a media justice organization, and academics from Keck School of Medicine.
During the program, 18 young people wore personal air monitors for a day – to school, other activities, at home. They also took photos and videos and mapped their exposure. As part of the program, the youth environmental justice organizations did workshops on PM2.5, and other workshops in partnership with a media justice organization about digital storytelling. They had several workshops to share and reflect on the data they had collected and what they experienced, and one big workshop at the end with all the youth environmental groups.
The air monitors showed that young people averaged 10.7µg/m3, but 3 of the young people had their daily average about 12µg/m3 which is the California EPA cutoff, and 5 of the young people spent 5-14% of their time above 35µg/m3. Some of the young people spent more than two thirds of their day near a busy freeway. The young people commented that they were surrounded by factories, refineries, and highways. They commented that the project taught them about what was going on in their communities and how they want to spread the word to their community about the exposure to PM2.5.
