##What is it?
DustDuino can help individuals with limited resources monitor PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations, indoors or outdoors. It uses [Shinyei PPD42NS](http://www.sca-shinyei.com/pdf/PPD42NS.pdf), a $15USD optical sensor that uses an LED and a lens to determine the concentration of dust in a partially closed chamber that draws in air from its surroundings. The sensor data is received by an [Arduino](http://www.arduino.cc/) development board and transmitted to Xively. Prototypes of DustDuino have been successfully built and used in various indoor and outdoor locations. 

[question:dustduino]

##Test Results
Test results indicate that DustDuino provides accurate and useful information, albeit of a somewhat limited scope and under certain conditions. An academic [study](http://www.atmos-meas-tech-discuss.net/7/605/2014/amtd-7-605-2014.pdf) which compared the Shinyei sensor to costlier models used by governments, researchers, and companies found that this low-cost sensor produced results equivalent to much  more expensive ones when analyzing data at hourly intervals.

There are still some unknowns with regard to the sensor - for example, whether it needs to be co-located with higher-quality instruments for calibration, and whether it could be used in extreme environments. There are also some limitations - the sensor may not produce high-quality information at time intervals shorter than an hour, 

##Photos

[![DustDuino.jpg](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/003/998/medium/DustDuino.jpg)](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/003/998/original/DustDuino.jpg)

##Why make one?
The health effects attributed to outdoor fine particulate matter (PM2.5) rank it among the risk factors with the highest health impacts in the world, [accounting for over 3.2 million premature deaths annually](http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es2025752). In October 2013, the World Health Organization [announced](http://www.iarc.fr/en/media-centre/iarcnews/pdf/pr221_E.pdf) they consider particulate matter, a major component of indoor and outdoor air pollution, as a Group 1 carcinogen along with tobacco smoke and asbestos.

##How to Make One
[Mental Munitions](http://www.mentalmunition.com/2013/10/measure-air-pollution-in-your-home-or.html)
[DustDuino Research Note](http://publiclab.org/notes/Schroyer/11-23-2013/measure-coarse-and-fine-air-particulates-with-a-dustduino)