The My Air, My Health HHS/EPA Challenge

Imagine how our health could improve if we had access to current air pollution data, along with timely information about how our bodies respond to those pollutants. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued the My Air, My Health HHS/EPA Challenge to tap into the ingenuity of American problem solvers.

This competition challenged Americans to develop innovative solutions that connected timely, location-specific air pollution data and human health measurements to provide a more detailed picture of air quality's impact on our health.

Problem solvers from across the country participated by proposing designs that used sensors that could be easily worn or carried. These sensors also needed to account for a known or plausible link between air pollutants and health measurements (such as heart rate and breathing) in specific communities or populations.

From the collection of proposals, four finalists were selected to move on to the second phase, in which they will develop working prototypes and demonstrate how their systems can be put into practical use by health and environmental agencies and by individual citizens.

One overall winner will be chosen based on the most effective solution that integrates health measurements and air quality data. This integrated system must be easy to use and have a meaningful impact on long-term health outcomes.

For additional information about the challenge, visit the My Air, My Health HHS/EPA Challenge at the federal government's online challenge platform. The challenge was developed in conjunction with the crowdsourcing firm InnoCentive.