‘Baby’ Claire helps scientists - 12th February 2021

This is ‘baby’ Claire. Claire is a special doll. She is helping scientists in Antwerp, Belgium.

Scientists walk with Claire in a pushchair. There is a machine in the pushchair too. The machine checks the air. Scientists want to answer a question: How clean is the air?

Dirty air is a big problem. It can kill people. The air is very dirty in Belgium. There are a lot of cars.

Roeland Samson studies the air in Antwerp.

Samson: "What do we analyse? We analyse particulate matter in 2 size fractions: 10 (micrometres) and 2 and a half, and ultra fine particles which are even more dangerous, because they really can penetrate the lungs deeply and even can entrance our blood system."

Veerle Bonaers takes Claire for walks. She is worried about dirty air.

Bonaers: "Because I have a child myself and I worry that she has to grow up in a very polluted city, and that it might affect her health in the long term."

Joeri Thijs works for Greenpeace.

Thijs: "But now actually with the new cars, diesel and petrol cars they are as bad. We need to go away from fossil fuel cars, we need to go to electric cars that can be fueled with renewable energy, but most of all we need to go to a different kind of mobility with much less cars, and better alternatives."