Mobile lab finds Narva's air cleaner than expected
As autumn arrives, the Estonian Environmental Research Center's mobile labs ramp up their work, checking air quality that typically worsens during the heating season. But tests in Narva on Wednesday delivered an unexpected result: the air was unusually clean.
The air‑monitoring measurement buses travel to different places in Estonia and measure air quality where there are no stationary measuring stations. Often one can get an overview of the air quality only by going on site; it is not advisable to trust the Estonian average.
"The average body temperature of Estonian residents is 36.9, that does not tell us much. Someone has 42, and it is the same with air quality. There are places where it is bad," said Erik Teinemaa, head of the air and climate department of the Environmental Research Center.
There are about ten sensors hidden in the measurement bus. Each device monitors one specific pollutant. The dust sensor breathes like a person.
"The same amount of air that we breathe in an hour moves through this filter. All the dust that is in it remains stuck on the filter. This device sucks in the sample as fast as a person breathes," explained Teinemaa.
The air sucked in Narva left no trace on the tape, and by other indicators as well, the air quality of the border city was surprisingly good. The power plant's cleaning equipment works well, and most importantly, there is practically no stove heating in Narva.
"Since private houses are low and in stove heating we have no cleaning systems, everything depends on how the person heats. Whether he heats with normal wood or puts some junk in there. It's in God's hands," said Teinemaa.
From Narva, the measurement bus drives to Nõmme district in Tallinn. Soon the stove‑heating season will begin there.
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Editor: Mari Peegel, Argo Ideon
