Field evaluation of a low-cost indoor air quality monitor to quantify exposure to pollutants in residential environments

Abstract

Abstract. Measurements of temporal and spatial changes to indoor contaminant concentrations are vital to understanding pollution characteristics. Whilst scientific instruments provide high temporal resolution of indoor pollutants, their cost and complexity make them unfeasible for large-scale projects. Low-cost monitors offer an opportunity to collect high-density temporal and spatial data in a broader range of households. This paper presents a user study to assess the precision, accuracy, and usability of a low-cost indoor air quality monitor in a residential environment to collect data about the indoor pollution. Temperature, relative humidity, total volatile organic compounds (tVOC), carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalents, and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) data were measured with five low-cost (“Foobot”) monitors and were compared with data from other monitors reported to be scientifically validated. The study found a significant agreement between the instruments with regard to temperature, relative humidity, total volatile organic compounds, and fine particulate matter data. Foobot CO2 equivalent was found to provide misleading CO2 levels as indicators of ventilation. Calibration equations were derived for tVOC, CO2, and PM2.5 to improve sensors' accuracy. The data were analysed based on the percentage of time pollutant levels that exceeded WHO thresholds. The performance of low-cost monitors to measure total volatile organic compounds and particulate matter 2.5 µm has not been properly addressed. The findings suggest that Foobot is sufficiently accurate for identifying high pollutant exposures with potential health risks and for providing data at high granularity and good potential for user or scientific applications due to remote data retrieval. It may also be well suited to remote and larger-scale studies in quantifying exposure to pollutants.

High-Rise Social Housing in Hot-Humid Climates: Towards an ‘Airhouse’ Standard for Comfort

“…Four types of equipment were used to measure the thermal comfort parameters (air temperature, operative temperature, relative humidity, and airspeed) and two types of equipment were used for the IAQ parameters (PM10, PM2.5, CO 2 and CO). The data were logged manually, but the accuracy of the data recorded is reliable [20]. The instruments used for thermal comfort evaluation in the first fieldwork were Tiny Tag Ultra 2, Kimo AMI 310, and Aercus Instruments WS1093.…”

A comprehensive review on indoor air quality monitoring systems for enhanced public health

“…Moreno-Rangel et al [47] presented a study to assess usability, accuracy, and the precision of low-cost IAQ monitor within a residential building. After analyzing the cost and complexity related issues associated with existing scientific solutions for IAQ monitoring, the authors proposed a reliable and low-cost system for households.…”

“…Cheng et al [39] tried to implement a prediction model with CAN interface, but the study was again limited to PM levels only; the impact of other pollutants was not considered in this study. Moreno-Rangel et al [47] presented a valuable study with FOOBOT monitors, and they considered multiple IAQ parameters for the realtime analysis, but the sensor calibration was again a relevant challenge to ensure desired performance. Table 4 presents a summary of IAQ monitoring systems based on architectures other than WSN and IoT.…”

The Relevance of Indoor Air Quality in Hospital Settings: From an Exclusively Biological Issue to a Global Approach in the Italian Context

“…improving the compulsory level of training and adequate preparation of healthcare and non-healthcare staff in prevention issues [10]; • the improvement of the investments for the technological and qualitative modernization of the healthcare infrastructures, so as to be able to operate effectively and efficiently (i.e., with a more careful attention to the correct selection of finishing and building materials, products, flexibility in use and ease use, and in the management of engineering plants, etc. ); • the enhancement of healthcare design and indoor air quality, which have a strong and direct impact on the quality of care [11,12]; • the humanization and hospitality of healing spaces [13,14].…”