About the Project

Although invisible, air pollution has adverse impacts on human health, not only to susceptible individuals but also to the general public. In the EU air pollution is responsible for more than 1.000 premature deaths in average every day, while studies in Greece show that approximately 15.000 citizens die prematurely every year due to air pollution. Although the common understanding of the universal nature of air pollution, measurements of the outdoor air pollution are not easily accessible by citizens. Even for cities where this kind of measurements exist, they represent only the air quality of a wide area and they cannot depict the personal exposure of each individual to air pollution and the respective impacts on their health.

This need is even more imperative for specific groups of people who either are more susceptible to environmental conditions (e.g. asthmatics) or are exposed to polluted air, such as courier drivers. Indicatively, according to recent studies, courier drivers who drive in a city center for 74 minutes every day inhale the same amount of air pollutants as those they would inhale if they smoked 980 cigarettes annually (van der Zee et al., 2016), with all the respective consequences to their health. 

The traditional methodologies of air quality monitoring are based on ground-based monitoring networks and include several shortcomings, with the most important one being the insufficient number of inappropriately located monitoring stations that fail to depict the personal exposure of each individual to air pollution. Air quality modeling is believed to be the good substitute for ubiquitous air quality monitoring, due to its ability to detect both small- and large-scale air pollution episodes. Both air quality models and ground-based stations fail to detect differences in air pollution levels between nearby areas, while even in a distance of few meters the outdoor air quality may be very different. 

The project WairIt will improve the current methodologies for monitoring of individuals’ exposure to outdoor air pollution with the use of innovative wearable sensors, advanced techniques of data integration, and methodologies of estimation of personalized air quality indices. The collected data will be made available to the individuals who carry the wearables through a mobile application, and to all the interesting stakeholders through a web platform. During the project, the integrated solution will be pilot tested in Thessaloniki with courier drivers of the company IDS courier. This pilot project is expected to result also in the urban air quality mapping in an unprecedented high spatial resolution for the Greek region.

The WairIt project aims to optimize existing techniques for measuring citizens' personal exposure to urban air pollution using innovative wearables, advanced integration technologies data, and environmental indicator estimation algorithms. The collected information will be immediately available to people wearing wearables through a mobile app, and to all stakeholders through an online platform. As part of the project, the solution will be piloted in Thessaloniki by employees of the courier company IDS. This pilot application will lead, among other things, to the mapping of urban pollution in such a high spatial resolution that similar to it has never existed again in Greece. 

The WairIt project aims to develop a comprehensive solution for monitoring each individual's personal exposure to air pollution and providing personalized information so that each person is aware of the potential health effects.  As can be seen from the above, a very detailed mapping of air pollution for the main roads of the city of Thessaloniki is expected to emerge very soon within the project. The total solution can be easily transferred and used in any area as it does not require the installation of a station or the use of complex networks, whenever the air pollution is mapped on a case by case basis. Given that road pollution or denser pollution data will now be available, it is expected that the WairIt solution will be able to provide routing services, not only based on mileage, but also on optimal environmental conditions to ensure the health of the citizen.

As for the company that has the WairIt solution to its employees (in this case the IDS courier), it now has the ability to monitor not only where its employees are but also what environmental conditions they are exposed to. The smart routing system is expected to preserve the health of the company's employees and consequently reduce the need for health benefits and minimize lost working hours due to illnesses related to environmental conditions. The company will gain a comparative advantage over competitors, and is estimated to increase its customer base due to an improved social image. Also, the use of wearables can increase the productivity of employees by 8.5% and the sense of satisfaction from their employer ("The human cloud at work", 2014). Correspondingly, the solution can be used by any body, eg by Municipalities that want to provide it to their citizens or by NGOs to their members, but also by individuals with similar expected results.

Policy makers will be able to use the platform to make right environmental decisions, and evaluate air pollution mitigation measures proposed to comply with existing legislation. From an environmental point of view, WairIt allows the general public to gain a basic knowledge of the different types of pollutants, their levels in the atmosphere and how they interact with human activities. Also, the large volume of data on air quality will contribute to a better understanding of the problem and its sources, while helping to formulate policies in the areas of environmental protection, public health and transport planning. In the long run, the platform could also be used as an educational tool to raise public awareness and understand the causes of air pollution. 

Finally, the WairIt solution is expected to inspire sound environmental standards, as it will inform users about specific practices to limit their contribution to the problem of air pollution locally.

The Project

Title of the Research Project:
Monitoring of the personal exposure of the population to air pollution with the use of smart Wearables and Advanced methodologies for peRsonalized decision

Funding Support

Scientific Area:
Sector 4-ESD: Environment & Sustainable Development

Duration:
30 months

 

Contact Info

Dafni Delioglani

Project Manager – Air Quality AssociateGeologist, MSc in Meteorology, Climatology & Atmospheric Environment- DRAXIS ENVIRONMENTAL S.A.
Coordinator and Project Manager
+30 2310 274566
ddelioglani-at-draxis.gr