Visitors to the laboratory this year may tour a new air monitoring trailer to learn how the Ambient Air Quality section monitors levels of pollution in the air. The trailer also is used for staff training.

The Ambient Air Quality section provides technical expertise, equipment calibration and maintenance for monitors that sample and analyze Iowa’s ambient (outdoor) air quality. These monitors – along with monitors maintained in public health departments by Linn and Polk counties – form a surveillance network covering all major population and industrial centers in Iowa.

The state of Iowa requires ambient air monitoring as part of the Clean Air Act. The Hygienic Lab’s Ambient Air section fulfills this requirement through a contract with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

Data from more than 100 monitors at 29 sites in 16 Iowa counties is available in the Ambient Air section of the Hygienic Laboratory’s website. Real-time data is highlighted and provides concentration information about many pollutants in Iowa’s air. Many of these monitors have been active for several decades.

Data that is collected by Air Quality staff is submitted to the Iowa DNR and EPA, and used for research and enforcement, keys to Iowa having some of the cleanest air in the country.