About data
About this website
This site presents real-time data collected by the "Pompidou" station, which captures various targeted molecules (NO², Pm²,5 and PM10) in downtown Tours. We have chosen to represent this dataset using a variable variable typography. This font changes according to the concentration of the molecules detected. We have made the typography coincide with the concentration levels defined by the WHO. When the typeface is fine and monolinear, this means that the concentration of the designated molecule is below its AQG threshold (this designates the threshold where no causal link can be established between disease and air quality). On the other hand, as soon as the typography splits up or increases in size, this means that thresholds have been exceeded. The concentration of the designated particle is then dangerous for the health of local residents.
| AQG level | Intermediate stages | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Step 0 | Step 1 | Step 2 | Step 3 | Step 4 |
| NO2 | NO2 | NO2 | NO2 | NO2 |
Our aim is to provide citizens with a tool to help them better understand what "air quality" means. the notion of "air quality". But also to allow them to see in real time the concentration of certain of certain pollutants in the heart of Tours.
The data presented are retrieved via the Lig'Air platform API.
Why care about air quality?Today, the term "air quality" is part of our everyday language. We frequently get a glimpse of "good or bad air quality" via our telephones and weather reports. However, what we air quality" actually refers to a wide variety of particles. Each of these molecules has its own consequences of their own. Both on the environment and on the human body.
It is therefore not possible to define ONE "air quality". Moreover, the presence of these particles is inherent to various human activities, so it's important to note that readings vary according to the areas studied.
Thanks to the latest large-scale projects carried out by the WHO to improve concentrations of molecules in the air, a large number of French cities regularly exceed pollution thresholds that are harmful to health pollution thresholds, even though improvements are being made.
For more information, we invite you to consult the WHO's full report on the subject, detailing their method for determining pollutant molecules. their method for determining pollutant molecules. As well as their follow-up on the consequences and origins of these molecules.
Typography
The variable "Air" font was designed to show the different toxicity levels of the densities of the different particles present in the air. Such as Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) , Fine Particles (PM 2.5) and Particulate Matter (PM 10) .
These thresholds have been defined by the WHO, and each time they are exceeded, the concentration of a given particle has a number of consequences for the human organism.
To illustrate the various concentration increases, we've opted for a more factual and didactic representation.
Nitrogen dioxide
| Temps moyen | AQG level | Intermediate stages | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Step 0 | Step 1 | Step 2 | Step 3 | Step 4 | |
| Annual | 10µg/m3 | 20µg/m3 | 30µg/m3 | 40µg/m3 | |
| 24 hour | 25µg/m3 | 50µg/m3 | 120µg/m3 | ||
| NO2 | NO2 | NO2 | NO2 | NO2 | |
NO2 is a gas commonly released during the combustion of fuels used in the industrial and transport sectors.
Pure, it has a brownish color (gleaming vapors) and a sweet odor. It's one of the smells you notice on traffic-polluted streets.
Constantly emitted by most vehicles, fuel-fired power plants (mainly coal) and industrial activities, nitrogen dioxide is also a precursor of other pollutants of other pollutants, notably tropospheric ozone (a pollutant on the rise throughout Europe, despite the efforts made) and nitrates, the latter being the cause of acid rain and, acidification and eutrophication of fresh waters.
Epidemiological studies have shown that bronchial symptoms in asthmatic children increase with long-term exposure to NO2. Decreased lung function is also associated concentrations currently measured in European and North American cities. At concentrations in excess of 200 μg/m3, over short periods of time, it is a toxic gas that causes significant inflammation of the respiratory tract. The annual number of deaths linked to long-term exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO2) has been estimated at 3,680 in 2019 (compared with 4,520 in 2010).
Particulate matter (PM 10)
| Average time | AQG level | Intermediate stagess | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Step 0 | Step 1 | Step 2 | Step 3 | Step 4 | |
| Annual | 15µg/m3 | 20µg/m3 | 30µg/m3 | 50µg/m3 | 70µg/m3 |
| 24 hour | 45µg/m3 | 50µg/m3 | 75µg/m3 | 100µg/m3 | 150µg/m3 |
| PM10 | PM10 | PM10 | PM10 | PM10 | |
Particulate matter is a common indirect indicator of air pollution. There is strong evidence of adverse health effects from exposure to particulate matter. The main components are sulfates, nitrates, ammonia, sodium chloride, black carbon, mineral dust and water.
At the concentrations to which most urban and rural populations in developed and developing countries are exposed and developing countries, particulate matter has harmful effects on health. Chronic exposure increases the risk of cardiovascular and respiratory disease, as well as lung cancer. Health effects depend on particle size. Coarse particles, the fraction between 2.5 µm and 10 µm, affect respiratory health. As for the fine fraction of particles, those smaller than 2.5 µm, have a long-term impact on cardiovascular health. Soiling and degradation of monuments and buildings are the most visible environmental impacts for particles.
There are many different sources of particulate matter, all of which influence its chemical composition and size. In the Île-de-France region, residential and tertiary heating, primarily wood-burning, is the main emitting sector, followed by road transport, agriculture and building sites. The distribution of primary particle emissions by size varies according to sector of activity: Road traffic and the residential and tertiary sector generate more fine and very fine particles (PM2.5 and PM10), linked respectively to combustion in engines, abrasion of brakes and tires, and the burning of wood, fuel oil and gas for heating; The construction and quarrying sectors generate more coarse particles (PM10), due to the nature of their activities (construction, deconstruction, use of special machinery, etc.); Manufacturing industry often combines combustion and various processes, and produces PM10 and PM2.5.
Fine particles (PM 2.5)
| Average time | AQG level | Intermediate stages | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Step 0 | Step 1 | Step 2 | Step 3 | Step 4 | |
| Annual | 5µg/m3 | 10µg/m3 | 15µg/m3 | 25µg/m3 | 35µg/m3 |
| 24 hour | 15µg/m3 | 25µg/m3 | 37.5µg/m3 | 50µg/m3 | 75µg/m3 |
| PM2.5 | PM2.5 | PM2.5 | PM2.5 | PM2.5 | |
Particulate matter is a common indirect indicator of air pollution. There is strong evidence of adverse health effects from exposure to particulate matter. The main components are sulfates, nitrates, ammonia, sodium chloride, black carbon, mineral dust and water.
Total PM2.5 emissions are 2 to 3 times higher in winter than in summer, particularly in the residential sector, due to heating. While emissions from certain sectors vary little from one month to the next (construction sites, industry, rail and river transport, airport hubs, etc.), those of other sectors are more markedly temporal: residential (winter/summer ratio greater than 40, notably due to wood heating), the tertiary sector, and the energy sector, which emits more energy in the winter months, due to the heating and energy production required.
At the concentrations to which most urban and rural populations in developed and developing countries are exposed, particulate matter has harmful effects on health. Chronic exposure increases the risk of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, and lung cancer. Health effects depend on particle size. Fine particles, smaller than 2.5 µm, have a long-term impact on cardiovascular health. PM2.5 particles from road traffic also impair neurological health (cognitive performance) and perinatal health. The annual number of deaths attributable to prolonged exposure to fine particles PM2.5 has been estimated at 6,220 in 2019 (compared with 10,350 in 2010) in the Île-de-France region.
19.11 - 08.11.2024 2023 - 1970