CRAC contribution to Clean Air Day

28 Aug 2024

Members of the Centre for Research into Atmospheric Chemistry (CRAC) contributed to Cork's (and Ireland's) second Clean Air Day.

Clean Air Day highlights how important breathing clean air is to people's health and CRAC group members presented their research findings to the public. Stig Hellebust and team members set up a display that showcased the sensitive sensors being developed in the RADICAL project to detect atmospheric radical molecules. These molecules are critical drivers of chemical processes occurring in the atmosphere. Dean Venables presented findings from one of the council's sensor networks showing the effect of traffic interventions on concentrations of the pollutant nitrogen dioxide in the city centre. These interventions included bus prioritisation on St Patrick's Street, the city's Clean Air Zone, and the St Patrick's Day Parade. 

Other presentations included contributions from community groups, Cork City Council, the HSE, and Cork Healthy City which told of how communities and institutions are helping improve air quality and reduce climate emissions. These celebrations of progress, led by Marica Cassarino of  the School of Applied Psychology and the lead principle investigator of the BEHAV-I-AIR project, showed the recent progress made in raising local awareness of the importance of breathing clean air.