A group of residents in rural Pennsylvania is developing a community formaldehyde monitoring project near natural gas compressor stations. Last fall a peer-review paper found elevated formaldehyde levels in the outdoor air near several compressor stations in multiple states in the US.

It is thought that the high formaldehyde levels are due to the burning of gas in the compressor engines. Compressor stations are a required aspect of our natural gas pipeline infrastructure--they pressurize the gas and sometimes also do small amounts of refining.

The red squares in this map above are compressor stations.

The community scientists will be using both they Public Lab DIY formaldehyde test kit and the RKI FP-30 formaldehyde meter.

The community group, which prefers to remain anonymous until after the pilot testing has been conducted, has asked me to post the protocol and data sheet here for feedback. In due course I will update the authors of the protocol and the name of the community group. Any comments, critiques or suggestions would be very welcome!