Can personal devices help cities tackle air quality issues?

For example, Queens Village and Astoria are both served by the nearest fixed station at Queens College. Yet personal devices in Astoria recorded a 95th percentile PM2.5 of 142 µg/m³, while devices in Queens Village recorded 68 µg/m³. The result is a 108 per cent difference in peak exposure, invisible in the station’s 12 µg/m³ daily average.

Since the study identified hyperlocal personal pollution events, ATMO compared different situations to create a portrait of New York’s highest-exposure day. 

The day would most likely be Wednesday, when 22 per cent of all weekly spikes occur. It may start with a morning rush-hour commute, when peak personal PM2.5 exposure was recorded at seven times higher than during night-time hours. The route cuts through a high-density commercial zone like Midtown Manhattan, where devices logged 65 per cent more spike events than in lower-density areas like Staten Island.

By evening, the highest exposure may happen indoors rather than outside. Indoor cooking, especially frying, grilling, or using a gas stove, can raise PM2.5 concentrations to 200-400 µg/m³ within minutes. These levels exceed the World Health Organisation’s 24-hour guideline more than tenfold. 

“Since most exposure concentrates in a handful of high-impact moments, identifying and avoiding those specific occasions can meaningfully reduce total intake,” said Vera Kozyr, co-founder and CEO of ATMO. “In practice, this can involve simple steps like avoiding a poorly ventilated kitchen while cooking, choosing a healthier running route, or improving house ventilation.”

ATMO, which develops smart air quality trackers, claims that personal air quality monitoring is following the trajectory of other wearable health metrics. Heart rate, sleep, blood glucose, and heart rate variability (HRV) were originally measured in clinical or professional settings before becoming widely available as consumer health tools.

In the US, 79 per cent of Gen Z consumers already use health technology such as wearables, telehealth, or online prescription services on a monthly basis, while 65 per cent of consumers say they want healthcare to be built around prevention rather than treatment.

ATMO offers two monitoring solutions. Atmocube is an indoor air quality monitor designed for homes and offices. Its IAQ sensors measure key indoor air pollutants PM1, PM2.5, PM10, CO₂, formaldehyde, TVOCs, temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, light intensity, and noise levels. Atmotube Pro 2 is built for personal and on-the-go use. It tracks CO₂, NOx, PM1/PM2.5/PM10, VOCs, humidity, temperature, and atmospheric pressure.

The full report can be viewed here.