Expert: Jay Hofmann (Trinity Consultants, Inc.) - 6/14/2007

Question
Is it possible to monitor my home and find out if the exhaust I smell is reaching unhealthy levels?  We live on a busy urban street.  Thank you.

Answer
You can monitor your home for carbon monoxide inexpensively.  Buy a CO monitor at your local hardware store.  You can't smell CO, therefore, you are smelling something else.  Other pollutants, such as nitrogen oxides and particulate matter, will be much more expensive to monitor.  You will probably want to get your neighbors to help pay for the monitoring.