In Fort McMurray, local residents continue to be concerned about their health and well-being despite efforts by the Oil Sands industries to reduce the release of air pollutants. To address concerns relating to air quality, the Wood Buffalo Environment Association (WBEA) established a human exposure monitoring program (HEMP).
The project ran from September 20th until December 5th, 2007 and involved thirty-five participants from the Fort McMurray area. Each volunteer wore a personal exposure monitor for seven days, which measured the quality of air they were exposed to during normal daily activities. Air monitors were also installed to measure airborne contaminates inside and outside the participants homes. These monitors sampled for the following contaminants: Nitrogen Dioxide, Sulfur Dioxide, Ozone, Volatile Organic Compounds and Particulate Matter.
WBEA’s objective was to distribute monitors evenly across the seven communities within the municipality of Wood Buffalo, obtain an even age distribution; monitor both male and female participants, and participants working on and off oil sands sites. With the help of Hatfield Consultants, all objectives were met and local residents were pleased to see active monitoring of air quality in Fort McMurray.
For more information, please contact Shannon Barker at 1 (780) 743-4290.
Examples of active and passive monitoring: outside, being worn by Jason, and inside.
About Hatfield:
Hatfield Consultants (Hatfield), established in 1974, is a Canadian environmental consulting company that has undertaken over 1,300 projects in North and South America, Asia, Europe and Africa. Hatfield provides services in the areas of environmental assessment and monitoring, contaminant monitoring, GIS and remote sensing, environmental information systems, aquatic ecology, and biodiversity assessments.
