What’s in the air you breathe? In a port city like Rotterdam, where industry, shipping and heavy traffic sit right next to residential neighbourhoods, it’s an important question. Yet we often don’t know, especially when it comes to ultrafine particles: tiny particles that penetrate deep into your lungs and bloodstream, but are measured at just one official monitoring station in the whole of South Holland.
That’s why One Planet Port, together with Resilient Delta Initiative (Erasmus University Rotterdam, TU Delft and Erasmus MC), is launching Right to Breathe: a citizen science project in which Rotterdam residents use certified measuring equipment to monitor the air quality in their own neighbourhoods and communities. The citizens decide where we measure; we provide the equipment, the scientific expertise and the support.
This takes the conversation from guesswork to hard data from your own street. With those results, we can together show where there is a problem and ask the municipality and other authorities to find a solution. In the long term, we want ultrafine particles to be included in binding air quality regulations.
We’re looking for residents who want to take measurements in their street or along their daily route, to help shape the project, or simply to stay informed. Want to join? Go to the Right to Breathe website and sign up.
