What if a small application allowed you to choose which path to take to preserve your lungs from air pollution?
This is the bet that Atmo Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes has taken with the application Air to go.
The device is simple. Just launch the application to discover the air quality index in your municipality.
The air quality appears on the home page of the Air to go application.
“The application geolocates us automatically”, explains Cyril Besseyre, territorial correspondent for Auvergne and the Loire of Atmo Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.
If we want to know the state of the air quality that our grandmother breathes at the other end of the department, it is also possible. The application has a map that details the areas according to different colors. From green, where the air quality is “good”, to purple, “extremely bad”.
Accuracy hour by hour
A small novelty compared to the launch in Auvergne in 2017, the forecasts change every hour, when it was every day previously. “There may be changes depending on weather conditions and air pollutant emissions throughout the day,” says Cyril Besseyre.
When we look at the readings every hour, we see that the ozone concentration tends to increase during the day. The fault, in particular, with the sun which beats in full summer.
Of course, the app does not turn your phone into a sensor. But it displays the readings, taken in real time, on the 89 measuring stations in the region.
Cyril Besseyre controls the measuring station in the Lecoq garden, in Clermont-Ferrand.
The application can therefore be useful for those who walk, but also for lovers of two wheels. Thanks to a partnership with Géovélo, Air to go calculates the route that will expose you the least to air pollution. And it works.
“We oscillate between 7,000 and 10,000 users. Since 2016, around 25,000 people have downloaded the application. But we would like to have it adopted even more by the public. »
Andrew Free developer of the Air to go app.
Air quality is one of the concerns that interest us. Especially since the situation is not perfect in Clermont-Ferrand. Air pollution, especially ozone, is commonplace in the summer. With consequences for people who are sensitive or suffer from respiratory diseases.
According to a report from Public Health France, from October 2021, 145 Puydomois die on average each year due to nitrogen dioxide, mainly due to road traffic. The figure rises to 283 for fine particles smaller than 2.5 millimetres.
But all is not lost for all that. You can limit your exposure to air pollution, thanks to Air to go. But we can also limit emissions. “Everyone can make an effort by favoring alternatives to the car, for example,” explains Cyril Besseyre.
Johan Maviert