Types of monitoring equipment Most monitors give a mass-based particle concentration for all par...
Public Lab is an open community which collaboratively develops accessible, open source, Do-It-Yourself technologies for investigating local environmental health and justice issues.
| 1 CURRENT | bhamster |
December 04, 2020 22:25
| over 3 years ago
Types of monitoring equipmentMost monitors give a mass-based particle concentration for all particles in a size category, meaning they do not differentiate between the relative mass contribution of different sizes of particles within that category. Only systems that capture and save particulate matter can identify, or ‘speciate’ particles by size or elemental composition. The sections below briefly describe different approaches to PM monitoring and show what the Public Lab community is asking and saying about each approach.
For help with choosing a PM monitoring method best suited to your needs, check out Choosing a method for Particulate Matter Monitoring. This page describes advantages and disadvantages for each monitoring approach, when it might be useful, and example tools.
Filter-based systemsUsed for: regulatory monitoring, supplementary monitoring Filter-based systems can collect particles for laboratory methods of speciation, and are the basis of Federal Reference Methods. Data can only be analyzed after collection, not in real-time. Usually samples are collected over a 24-hour period and the weighted average concentration (by mass) for that 24-hours is produced. Filter-based gravimetric systems are usually the most precise measurements of PM. [nodes:filter-pm] Optical systemsUsed for: personal exposure monitoring, supplementary monitoring, hotspot identification, hotspot characterization, education Optical electronic systems offer the possibility of real-time particle counts which are valuable for hotspot identification, recording short-term high emissions events, and identifying when air may pose a health threat. Their data is significantly affected by humidity though. More precise monitors usually include a filter-based system to correct data after collection, such as what Public Lab plans to do by collocating optical systems with passive monitors. [nodes:optical-pm] Passive systemsUsed for: personal exposure monitoring, supplementary monitoring, education, hotspot characterization, education Passive systems have no moving parts and are easy to deploy for long-term monitoring without electricity. They can approach the precision of regulatory monitoring and are within the accuracy and precision ranges necessary for supplementary monitoring. Passive monitors generally require longer sample collection periods (3-10 days) than active filter-based monitoring, and are better used to characterize hotspots than to identify them. Passive monitors collect particles onto filters or slides, so there is the opportunity to do some limited speciation analyses of particles. [nodes:passive-pm] Further reading and resources
|
Revert | |
| 0 | bhamster |
December 04, 2020 22:19
| over 3 years ago
Types of monitoring equipmentMost monitors give a mass-based particle concentration for all particles in a size category, meaning they do not differentiate between the relative mass contribution of different sizes of particles within that category. Only systems that capture and save particulate matter can identify, or ‘speciate’ particles by size or elemental composition. The sections below briefly describe different approaches to PM monitoring and show what the Public Lab community is asking and saying about each approach. For help with choosing a PM monitoring method best suited to your needs, check out “Choosing a method for Particulate Matter Monitoring.” This page describes advantages and disadvantages for each monitoring approach, when it might be useful, and example tools.
Filter-based systemsUsed for: regulatory monitoring, supplementary monitoring Filter-based systems can collect particles for laboratory methods of speciation, and are the basis of Federal Reference Methods. Data can only be analyzed after collection, not in real-time. Usually samples are collected over a 24-hour period and the weighted average concentration (by mass) for that 24-hours is produced. Filter-based gravimetric systems are usually the most precise measurements of PM. [nodes:filter-pm]
Optical systemsUsed for: personal exposure monitoring, supplementary monitoring, hotspot identification, hotspot characterization, education Optical electronic systems offer the possibility of real-time particle counts which are valuable for hotspot identification, recording short-term high emissions events, and identifying when air may pose a health threat. Their data is significantly affected by humidity though. More precise monitors usually include a filter-based system to correct data after collection, such as what Public Lab plans to do by collocating optical systems with passive monitors. [nodes:optical-pm]
Passive systemsUsed for: personal exposure monitoring, supplementary monitoring, education, hotspot characterization, education Passive systems have no moving parts and are easy to deploy for long-term monitoring without electricity. They can approach the precision of regulatory monitoring and are within the accuracy and precision ranges necessary for supplementary monitoring. Passive monitors generally require longer sample collection periods (3-10 days) than active filter-based monitoring, and are better used to characterize hotspots than to identify them. Passive monitors collect particles onto filters or slides, so there is the opportunity to do some limited speciation analyses of particles. [nodes:passive-pm]
Further reading and resources
|
Revert |