Researchers involved in the European ENACT project have shown how wearable environmental sensing technology can help capture real-world air-quality events. Following the industrial fire that broke out in Tubize on 25 May 2026, ENACT environmental wearables deployed in Halle, south of Brussels, recorded clear changes in local air-pollution signals, including increases in nitrogen dioxide and volatile organic compound measurements.

The VUB ETRO department contributes to ENACT’s work on environmental monitoring technologies and data-driven analysis, supporting the development of tools that can help researchers better understand how environmental exposure affects health. The measurements collected during this incident provide a concrete example of how wearable sensing can complement official monitoring networks and contribute to future exposomic risk assessment.

Further analysis will refine the raw sensor readings by comparing them with reference-grade air-quality data from the IRCELine monitoring network.

Read the full ENACT news item: https://enact-he.eu/industrial-fire-air-quality-monitoring-brussels/