THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JULY-AUGUST 2025 43 risk associated with our positions, I worried what prolonged exposure was doing to our long-term health. Getting the Data Serving as the environment, science, technology, and health (ESTH) officer in Antananarivo, I was fortunate to have access to an air quality monitor located within the embassy compound. This beta-attenuation monitor (BAM) is certified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and measures levels of fine particulates in the air under 2.5 micrometers in diameter (PM2.5). PM2.5 levels are associated with health risks such as acute respiratory illnesses, asthma and other lung diseases, cardiovascular disease, and early mortality. The BAM takes a reading every hour on the hour, but it only represents the air on the embassy compound, not the rest of Antananarivo or the rest of the country. I realized that if we could procure air quality measurements elsewhere in Madagascar, we would understand how air quality varies from place to place and learn where and how often Foreign Service members on the island were being exposed to poor air quality. I could not do this alone. In 2022 I used a small grant from the State Department Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs (OES) to invite air quality expert Linda Geiser from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service to join local researchers on a tour of the country, gathering air quality data in major cities, villages, and nature reserves. We drove around the island with a 2BTechnologies Personal Air Quality Monitor (PAM) mounted on top of our car, taking readings as we traveled through bustling rural towns. We carried it by hand along foot trails in lush nature reserves and into buildings during indoor gatherings. What we found was not reassuring. During the dry season, a layer of haze covers the country, including within Madagascar’s major nature reserves. In Antananarivo, three years of BAM monitoring demonstrated that average daily air quality was best during the wet season and worst during the dry season. On an hourly basis, air quality was generally poorest in the early With our PAM air quality monitor tucked inside a car-topper (left), we measured five air pollutants and temperature every 10 seconds. Our phones connected to the monitor by Bluetooth, displaying and recording data in real time. We detected 41 ug/m3 of PM2.5, unhealthy for sensitive groups, from the truck ahead (right). People in Madagascar, especially those walking, cycling, shopping, or selling at open markets and storefronts near busy roads, are routinely exposed to poor air quality. LINDA GEISER/U.S. FOREST SERVICE LINDA GEISER/U.S. FOREST SERVICE By mapping annual average PM2.5 data at U.S. embassy BAMs from 2021 to 2023, one can readily see that the worst air pollution is occurring in parts of Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy ODIyMDU=