Low Cost Air Quality Monitor

What is your location?

Downwind!!!!!

^{_{Talk about 'WIDE OPEN"..........}}

Port Townsend, Washington

I think the answer lies in what you want the monitors to do.

If you want an early warning network, so that you can know when to stay indoors, a fairly simple monitor might suffice.

If, on the other hand, you want to mitigate the pollution, you will need a much more sophisticated system. One that will be recognized in a court of law, which is surly where this will go.

Now, where is your town, on the map, and welcome to CR4. Interesting problem.

Get the surgical mask that suits your style....change it on a daily basis, send them to lab every month for particle count and identification...Get friends or volunteers to do the same at different locations...

for 2.5 micron particles all these wont work

Sez who? ASTM F2100-07 specifies that a particle size of 0.1 micron be used for testing of surgical masks...While these testing standards vary, the goal is not to stop the particulate 100%, but to collect a sampling of the air particles...Is the OP interested in just the quantity of particulate, or in the composition? The quantity will vary according to wind speed and direction, testing results, unless carried out over a substantial length of time, would be unreliable...The composition of the particulate, if toxic in nature, would be more valuable information...imo

Hello Porpoise seeker

try this link hope this helps.

http://www.aqfairbanks.com/science/

Regards

Naveen

Helpful to see what they are doing.

My vision is to develop some open source, open design air quality monitors that can be deployed widely to encourage honesty among those who would pollute our air commons.

I heard a talk recently where the speaker claimed that in China, there are $400 air quality monitors being used by citizens. But he did not know anything about details and I have not been able to find anything useful by googling.

http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/analytical-chromatography/air-monitoring/radiello.html
http://www.aeroqual.com/applications/outdoor-air-quality-monitoring
http://www.lamotte.com/pages/edu/air.html
http://www.tsi.com/Particle-Counters/

Thanks. I will have to study the data sheets to understand what can be done. TSI looks particularly appropriate with capabilities to measure ultrafine particles.

I'd expect that the State of Washington would at least require measurements at the source. Not So ?

Your state has implimented rigid standards for the marine industry, boats and boatyards to limit what gets deposited in the Salt Water environment.

Do you not trust them to treat the air with the same level of concern.

There is much mistrust of "the system" including Dept of Ecology for allowing installation of a biomass plant owned by a distant hedge fund. Our only air monitor was moved from its location in the mill plume to a more distant site. Naturally, there are difference of opinion about why this was done.

A second air monitor has been requested, but approval has not been received yet. Our local Health Department has no authority whatsoever to deal with air quality.

My concept is to make air quality measurement a citizen science game where the location and number of sensors would not be determined by outsiders.