Clean Air Together invites members of the public to measure Dublin’s air quality.

It is a citizen science project where 1,000 participants will record levels of Nitrogen Dioxide (NO₂) pollution in their local area. It is a joint project between the EPA and the Environmental Education Unit of An Taisce.

This will give us a better understanding of air pollution across Dublin and help to improve air quality in the future.

If you are in Dublin, you can apply for free to be one of 1,000 selected participants by the 22nd of September. If you are selected:

• We’ll send you out a measurement tube to put outside your chosen location from the 8th of October to the 5th of November.
• The tube will measure your average NO₂ levels over the period.
• On the completion date, you’ll just need to take down the tube and post it back (in a pre-paid envelope) to the laboratory for analysis.
• You’ll get your results from us and we’ll create an interactive map on this website displaying all the results to the public.
• You will be able to see how your Nitrogen Dioxide (NO₂) levels compare to other parts of Dublin.

Nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) is a pollutant gas that mainly comes from vehicle traffic. Being exposed to NO₂ gas, even for short periods, can have harmful effects on our health and wellbeing.

EPA monitoring and computer modelling show that in some urban areas NO₂ pollution is increasing. It will be important to remain vigilant to increasing NO₂ levels, particularly from transport in urban centres when the economy grows.

You can find out more about NO₂ and air quality by going to EPA’s Air Quality page on our website.

Clean Air Together is a partnership between the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Environmental Education Unit of An Taisce.

The results will give us a better picture of air quality across Dublin, raise awareness of air quality in general, inform air quality policy and promote behaviour change.

By better understanding air pollution in Dublin and the impact it can have on our health, we can plan to improve air quality in our local areas.

Many citizen science projects on air quality have been run all over the world. This project was inspired by an experiment called CurieuzeNeuzen (Curious Noses). It was carried out in Belgium. It was the largest ever European Air Quality Citizen Science Project. It was a fantastic success with impacts for society, science, policy and awareness in Flanders. We hope that we will have similar success in Ireland. Find out more about the project at curieuzeneuzen.be.

NEVER DOUBT THAT A SMALL GROUP OF THOUGHTFUL, COMMITTED CITIZENS CAN CHANGE THE WORLD; INDEED, IT'S THE ONLY THING THAT EVER HAS.

If you are in Dublin and over 18 years of age, you can apply to take part in Clean Air Together. You don’t have to have any scientific knowledge or expertise to take part. Unfortunately, not everyone who applies to take part will be selected. There is a limit of 1,000 tubes that need to be spread across the city.

If you can’t apply for the project or if you are not selected, you can still follow the project and learn more about what you can do for air quality on this website.

You can also help by telling others about it, for example through social media (#CleanAirTogether and #KnowYourNO2).

Participants will be selected primarily based on location.

• We’re particularly interested in measuring areas that have a lot of traffic. For example, within the boundaries of the M50 motorway and along main roads from the city centre.
• We also aim to have at least 30 measurement tubes per Dublin City and County district postal code. (e.g. D1, D3, etc.).

We would like as many people as possible from different communities and all walks of life to take part.

We will be informing the selected applicants by the 24th of September. Please look out for the email from us.

Fill in the form here.