Most cyclists have been there: peacefully pedaling one minute and sucking bus exhaust the next. In the moment, all you can do is keep riding and shrug off the blast of smoke. But now a growing body of research suggests breathing this pollution can have both short-term and long-term health consequences.

A team of researchers from Columbia University has started using a suite of state-of-the-art personal monitoring devices to gather more details about how air pollution affects cyclists’ health.

The new study—a joint undertaking by scientists in the Mailman School of Public Health and the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory—aims to show minute-by-minute health and pollution data.

The researchers have equipped volunteer bike commuters with a skintight biometric shirt, a mesh