Dust Sampling
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Dust sampling can be done with a filter, a sticky pad, or other techniques, and can help in assessing particulate air pollution (#pm or #dust) -- see https://publiclab.org/wiki/pm for more.
This is also a helpful prerequisite step for viewing particulate pollution through a microscope, if it's big enough to be seen!
https://publiclab.org/wiki/microscopes
Questions
Please help build out this resource by asking questions here:
| Title | Author | Updated | Likes | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What are some ways to collect dust or particulate samples for analysis? | @warren | about 7 years ago | 1 | 4 |
| What is the scenario under which you would use an optical vs. a passive monitor to measure dust? | @kgradow1 | about 7 years ago | 0 | 1 |
| How does the EPA measure things, especially the size of dust particles? | @kgradow1 | about 7 years ago | 2 | 3 |
| How big are silica particles, in microns? | @warren | over 7 years ago | 1 | 2 |
| How big are smoke particles, in microns? | @warren | over 7 years ago | 1 | 4 |
| Are there any methods to distinguish where particulate matter in the air comes from? | @stevie | over 7 years ago | 0 | 4 |
| Can PM4 be monitored with the MiniVol? | @mathew | almost 8 years ago | 0 | 1 |
| Can a passive dust monitoring housing be made from a cheaper/easier material? | @warren | about 8 years ago | 1 | 2 |
| What kind/size of microdust does activated carbon give off & how much of a concern is it? | @jfrankamp | about 8 years ago | 2 | 2 |
Activities
| Purpose | Category | Status | Author | Time | Difficulty | Replications |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Experiment with polarizing filters to view crystalline dust | - | - | @warren | - | - | 0 replications: Try it » |
Activities should include a materials list, costs and a step-by-step guide to construction with photos. Learn what makes a good activity here.
We would love to see guides to collecting dust for analysis. If you know of a technique, or an online or print resource for this, please share it as an activity above!