Mobile monitoring finds surprisingly good air quality in Narva

Air quality in Narva was surprisingly good, according to measurements taken Wednesday by a mobile monitoring team, ERR reported. The Estonian Environmental Research Centre’s vans measure pollution in places without permanent monitoring stations.

Measurements often show that air quality worsens when the heating season begins. But in Narva, the mobile team found little dust and good results across other indicators, said Erik Teinemaa, head of the centre’s air and climate department.

The monitoring van carries about a dozen sensors, each tracking a specific pollutant. Its dust sensor draws in air at roughly the rate a person breathes, collecting particles on a filter.

Teinemaa said the power plant’s pollution-control equipment was working well and that wood-stove heating is rare in Narva. In areas where homes rely on wood stoves, he said, pollution depends on what people burn and how they operate their stoves.

The van will travel from Narva to Nõmme, in Tallinn, where the wood-stove heating season is about to begin.