Barking up the Right Tree: Using Tree Bark to Track Airborne Particles in School Environment and Link Science to Society

Abstract

Children's exposure to air pollution affects both their health and learning skills. Fine and ultrafine particulate matter (PM2.5, PM1), notably issued from traffic sources in urban centers, belong to the most potential harmful health hazards. However their monitoring and the society's awareness on their dangers need to be consolidated. In this study, raising teacher and pupil involvement for air quality improvement in their schools environment is reached through developing a passive monitoring technique (bio‐sensors made of tree bark). The experiment was implemented in two urban elementary schools situated close to a main traffic road of the city of Toulouse (South of France). Magnetic properties, carbonaceous fraction measurements, and scanning electronic microscopy (SEM‐EDX) investigations were realized both on passive bio‐sensors and filters issued from active sampling. We find that traffic is the main PM1 source for both outdoors and indoors at schools. Higher levels of outdoor PM in the school's environments compared to urban background are reached especially in the cold period. The schools proximity to a main traffic source and lack of ventilation are the main causes for observed PM1 accumulation in classrooms. The co‐working experiment with educational teams and pupils shows that the use of bio‐sensors is a driver for children empowerment to air pollution and therefore represents a potential key tool for the teachers though limiting eco‐anxiety. As PM accumulation is observed in many scholar environments across Europe, the proposed methodology is a step toward a better assessment of PM impact on pupil's health and learning skills.

Magnetismo ambiental aplicado na metrópole paulista: frota veicular, fontes de emissão e novas tecnologias

“…Estudos de magnetismo ambiental inicialmente exploraram cenários que deixam registros em rochas e sedimentos, como a poluição da água que altera os sedimentos do fundo de lagos e rios. Entretanto, com o passar dos anos grupos de pesquisa começaram a explorar amostras de outras naturezas, como folhas e cascas de árvores e o MP coletado em filtros (A. da S. Leite et al, 2021Leite et al, , 2022Locosselli et al, 2020;Spassov et al, 2004). Isto permitiu a análise das propriedades magnéticas da poluição atmosférica.…”