Within the framework of the international project “Clean Air for Ukraine”, in cooperation with the NGO “Dzyga” (Zaporizhia) and the Czech organization “Arnika” (Czech Republic), an “Oxygen” public air monitoring station has been installed in the Khortytsia National Academy of Educational Rehabilitation of the Zaporizhia Regional Council (Khortytsia).
This is the first station in Zaporizhia installed directly in a school where there are children continuously, in pursuance of the National Programme “Children of Ukraine” on the basis of the Zaporizhia Medical Boarding School for Children with Cardiovascular Diseases.
In 2007, the Khortytsia Multidisciplinary Training and Rehabilitation Centre was granted the status of an innovative institution, and in 2010 the status of a national educational and rehabilitation centre. The Zaporizhia Eco-Coalition initiated the installation of a modern sensor. The distinctive feature of Oxygen stations is that in addition to fine dust, which is already measured by existing public monitoring stations, they also assess the content of hazardous pollutants in the air: nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, ammonia, formaldehyde, ground-level ozone, and volatile organic compounds.
During the installation of the air monitoring station, representatives of the Eco-Coalition had a meeting with the administration of the school and told them about the principles of monitoring stations, their activities, the impact of air pollution on humans and the environment, and opportunities for students to develop research and environmental work. In addition, the Eco-Coalition of Zaporizhia conducted an “atmospheric lesson” for students of the Khortytsia National Academy: Iryna Pirogova, coordinator of the Eco-Coalition of Zaporizhia, talked about the impact of air pollution on humans and the ability to minimize these risks, Alexander Kostenko, a specialist in analytical equipment, spoke about the technical features of the stations used in our city to obtain air data. Olesya Kramarenko, the head of the Dzyga NGO, spoke about the cooperation with the Czech organization Arnika in the framework of the Clean Air for Ukraine project, demonstrating the equipment developed within the project and handed it over to Zaporizhia activists for air quality measurements. The rector of the school, Valentina Nechipurenko, thanked all the members of the Eco-Coalition for their attention to the problems of the environment and children’s health. Together with specialists and scientists, they discussed the possibilities of involving children in scientific and research work, as well as the prospect of joint preparation of a pilot project on the inventory of green areas.
In the end, the activists demonstrated the work of the mobile laboratory of the Zaporizhia Regional Laboratory Centre of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine.
Under adaptive quarantine, the focus of society and the government is on maintaining the health of people and children in the first place. The installation of a monitoring station will help monitor the air quality situation during the educational process and children’s recreation.
