Desenzano Launches Mobile Air Quality Monitoring in Collaboration with Brescia University
The air quality in Desenzano will be monitored by a mobile unit equipped with onboard instruments: this is a first-time initiative. Citizens of the Garda lake area will be able to know, starting from next week, what they are breathing and the pollution levels caused by car exhaust gases and dust emissions from industrial settlements.
“After years of unresolved negotiations,” confirms the urban planning counselor, Orlando Farinelli, “we are finally starting a collaboration with the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore di Brescia, which, thanks to the cooperation of the Istituto di geofisica e bioclimatologia di Desenzano — directed by Professor Gianfranco Bertazzi — will provide us with a mobile unit equipped with sophisticated instruments capable of detecting the main pollutants resulting from both hydrocarbon combustion (carbon monoxide) and dust emissions from factories and workshops.”
These pollutants, when exposed to sunlight and beams of light, undergo a series of chemical reactions that are harmful to humans. The number of people suffering from lung disorders, bronchitis, and asthma is unfortunately continuously rising. The alarm raised by Farinelli is confirmed by data from the pneumology department of the Desenzano hospital, which paints an even more concerning picture.
An individual requires about one kilogram of food, 2 liters of water, and a precise amount of clean air to live. But if the air is polluted…
Agreement and future perspectives
The agreement between Università Cattolica and Comune di Desenzano guarantees that systematic environmental monitoring will culminate with Desenzano becoming the permanent headquarters of the Center for Environmental Sustainability Research in Lombardy.
In the coming days, the equipped mobile unit will begin to “capture” air particles for analysis; subsequently, the data will be processed and disseminated.
There is a understandable anticipation in the Garda town for the first air pollution data and for potential measures to protect citizens’ health, such as partial or total closure of streets in the historic city center.
