An electrical way to measure pollution.Want to know how polluted the air is? Instead of measuring a half dozen different chemicals in the atmosphere, Canadian scientists have come up with a much simpler test based on electrical conductivity of the air. Ya Guo of Agriculture Canada in Ottawa and his colleagues compared conductivity measurements made in downtown Toronto Downtown Toronto is the heart of the City of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is approximately bounded by Bloor Street (including areas slightly north of Bloor around Yonge Street) to the north, Lake Ontario to the south, Bayview Avenue - Don Valley Parkway to the east, and Bathurst to simultaneous readings of the concentrations of carbon monoxide carbon monoxide, chemical compound, CO, a colorless, odorless, tasteless, extremely poisonous gas that is less dense than air under ordinary conditions. It is very slightly soluble in water and burns in air with a characteristic blue flame, producing carbon dioxide; , sulfur dioxide sulfur dioxide, chemical compound, SO2, a colorless gas with a pungent, suffocating odor. It is readily soluble in cold water, sparingly soluble in hot water, and soluble in alcohol, acetic acid, and sulfuric acid. , nitrogen dioxide, and airborne particles. Changes in electrical conductivity were correlated with variations in total pollution: Whenever pollution increased, conductivity dropped, the researchers report in the April 20 Journal of Geophysical Research Journal of Geophysical Research is a publication of the American Geophysical Union. JGR was formerly titled Terrestrial Magnetism from its founding by the AGU's president Louis A. . Pollution reduces the atmosphere's conductivity by neutralizing or binding to free ions in the air, explains Guo. This technique could provide a low-cost way of tracking pollution, he suggests. |
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