SALT LAKE CITY — It's been another week of seeing the haze and smog infiltrate northern Utah, reminding all of us of the air quality hazards we face during the winter months and through all seasons.
AIR QUALITY MAP: Take a real-time look at current air quality conditions in Utah
However, TELLUS is a local company working to make a difference as the makers of a high tech network of accurate air quality sensors.
"We're kind of, you know, the scouts, if you will; we're scouting what the air quality is when we identify problems," said TELLUS CEO Douglas Lafter.
With a PhD in Analytical Chemistry from Brigham Young University, Dr. Lafter has been pivotal in taking research from the BYU, University of Utah and other institutions to bring new technology to the market and help the environment.
"We have developed the algorithms and the artificial intelligence, we call it Core Data Intelligence or Core DI, that then allows, if you don't have a sensor in your backyard and you look at our map, you can zero in and find the air quality where you live," he explained.
To get the data, several sensors are deployed throughout northern Utah. This network of low cost sensors help identify levels of particles in the air that are hazardous for your health. They focus in on particles that are classified as PM (Particulate Matter) 2.5.
"So PM 2.5, which is a fine particulate that you can breathe in. And it eventually works its way into your bloodstream from your lungs," said Carl Luft, Vice President of Sales & Marketing for TELLUS.
Luft works to get the low cost sensors out in the community to help Utahns be aware of the current pollutants in our local air.
"Yeah, so Utah, is actually a great testbed for air quality research," he said, "we are exposed to every type of air quality event that we know of."
This includes smoke from wildfires, pollution from valley inversions, ozone, and in recent years there has been an additional enemy in the air that can be detected and has increased due to recent droughts.
"So because we live in this little petri dish of a valley, a lot of that PM 2.5, or even PM 10, which is dust," Luft explained.
With recent dust events, there are toxic particles in the air, exposing our lungs to heavy metals.
"And you know, we've also heard about arsenic, you know, being in the dust of the bed of the Great Salt Lake," added Luft.
With Utahns health at stake, TELLUS is working with the public to getting more sensors out in the network and that’s where all residents can help.
Community members can CLICK HERE to go to the TELLUS website purchase a sensor and host them using your own WiFi at home. That will give a good representation of the general area around the home.
With more sensors being used by individuals, businesses, or local governments, more accurate data can be generated.
So how does this help you?
"Having sensors deployed out into the community, it allows individual users to understand exactly what they're being exposed to," said Luft. "So they can make some decisions. They can replace air filters, they can open or close their windows, they can choose not to enter certain areas of the valley, when they're highly-polluted."
TELLUS is working with the University of Utah to use the data from the sensors to generate accurate forecasting models for air quality in the future
"So just like the weather forecast, you pick it up. Is it the 10-day forecast? Well, we're gonna try to do the same thing with air quality," Lafter said.
Just as it is important to have sensors in your home checking the air like a smoke detector or carbon monoxide sensor. It is also crucial to have the ability to check the air directly outside the home, which is the air that we all breath.
