Real-time Sensing of Particulate Matter in a Vehicle Exhaust System

Author(s):  
Gerard W. Malaczynski ◽  
Gregory Roth
Indoor Air ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuan Shao ◽  
Lucy Kavi ◽  
Meleah Boyle ◽  
Lydia M. Louis ◽  
Walkiria Pool ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Lu Yang ◽  
Hao Zhang ◽  
Xuan Zhang ◽  
Wanli Xing ◽  
Yan Wang ◽  
...  

Particulate matter (PM) is a major factor contributing to air quality deterioration that enters the atmosphere as a consequence of various natural and anthropogenic activities. In PM, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) represent a class of organic chemicals with at least two aromatic rings that are mainly directly emitted via the incomplete combustion of various organic materials. Numerous toxicological and epidemiological studies have proven adverse links between exposure to particulate matter-bound (PM-bound) PAHs and human health due to their carcinogenicity and mutagenicity. Among human exposure routes, inhalation is the main pathway regarding PM-bound PAHs in the atmosphere. Moreover, the concentrations of PM-bound PAHs differ among people, microenvironments and areas. Hence, understanding the behaviour of PM-bound PAHs in the atmosphere is crucial. However, because current techniques hardly monitor PAHs in real-time, timely feedback on PAHs including the characteristics of their concentration and composition, is not obtained via real-time analysis methods. Therefore, in this review, we summarize personal exposure, and indoor and outdoor PM-bound PAH concentrations for different participants, spaces, and cities worldwide in recent years. The main aims are to clarify the characteristics of PM-bound PAHs under different exposure conditions, in addition to the health effects and assessment methods of PAHs.


2012 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 2234-2241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Srijan Aggarwal ◽  
Ricky Jain ◽  
Julian D. Marshall

2004 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Nardini ◽  
R. Cagnin ◽  
G. Invernizzi ◽  
A. Ruprecht ◽  
R. Boffi ◽  
...  

Aim of the study: There are International and National standards that requires hospitals and health premises to be smoke-free. According to recent data from Italy and other European Countries, smoking is a widespread habit in hospitals. To get smoke-free hospitals in an Italian region, we have adopted the European Code for smoke-free hospitals, which sets standards and provides instruments for its implementation. According to the Code, whenever possible, each step towards a smoke-free hospital, should be shared by all staff. As a mean for achieving this goal, in our region the certification of single units as smoke-free units has been chosen. For getting the certification, besides implementing the Code, we planned to use ETS (Environmental Tobacco Smoke) monitoring, as ETS should not be present in hospitals. As a marker of ETS we have chosen Particulate Matter (PM), as it can easily be measured in real-time with a portable instrument and, when other - even outdoor - sources of combustion can be ruled out, it is an accurate detector of cigarette smoke. Here the first experience of measuring PM in hospitals for monitoring ETS and certificating smoke-free health premises, is described. Materials and methods: PM measurements were carried out without any previous notification in different areas of two Network hospitals of the Veneto Region, during a single working day. A real time laser-operated aerosol mass analyser was used. Several classes of PM (PM1, PM2.5, PM7, PM10, TSP Total Suspended Particles) were measured. Results: Outdoor PM levels were found to be repeatedly lower than the annual official limits of 65 mcg/m3 and around the 24 hour official limits of 15 mcg/m3 [15 to 20 mcg/m3, with an overall mean (±SD) of 17.8 (1.9)] throughout the whole day. Very good indoor air quality was found in the operating theaters and isolation department, where PM2.5 concentrations were much lower than outdoor levels [1.6 (0.9) and 5.9 (0.6) mcg/m3, respectively]. No increase in PM pollution was found in the surveyed medical offices, halls and waiting rooms where smoking was positively forbidden [PM2.5 concentrations of 14.8 (2.2) and 12.9 (1.1) mcg/m3] except in a medical office and in two coffee rooms for staff only where high PM levels were recorded [PM2.5 58.7 (29.1), 27.0 (10.6) and 107.1 (47.8) mcg/m3] and an offence of smoking restrictions could be proved. Conclusions: The measurement of PM in hospital for monitoring ETS proved to be both feasible and sensible. PM measurements with a portable instrument can be used both for controlling the compliance with rules or chosen standards and for educating staff about smoking related hazards, thus gaining consensus for the implementation of the tobacco control policy. In our experience, PM measurement can be used as an aid inside all actions designed by the European Code for smoke-free hospitals.


1999 ◽  
Vol 33 (14) ◽  
pp. 2328-2339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven H. Cadle ◽  
Patricia A. Mulawa ◽  
Eric C. Hunsanger ◽  
Ken Nelson ◽  
Ronald A. Ragazzi ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 867-890
Author(s):  
Jun-Hee Choi ◽  
Hyun-Sug Cho

The gravimetric method, which is mainly used among particulate matter (PM) measurement methods, includes the disadvantages that it cannot measure PM in real time and it requires expensive equipment. To overcome these disadvantages, we have developed a light scattering type PM sensor that can be manufactured at low cost and can measure PM in real time. We have built a big data system that can systematically store and analyze the data collected through the developed sensor, as well as an environment where PM states can be monitored mobile in real time using such data. In addition, additional studies were conducted to analyze and correct the collected big data to overcome the problem of low accuracy, which is a disadvantage of the light scattering type PM sensor. We used a linear correction method and proceeded to adopt the most suitable value based on error and accuracy.


2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 20839-20883 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Brito ◽  
L. V. Rizzo ◽  
P. Herckes ◽  
P. C. Vasconcellos ◽  
S. E. S. Caumo ◽  
...  

Abstract. The notable increase in biofuel usage by the road transportation sector in Brazil during recent years has significantly altered the vehicular fuel composition. Consequently, many uncertainties are currently found in particulate matter vehicular emission profiles. In an effort to better characterize the emitted particulate matter, measurements of aerosol physical and chemical properties were undertaken inside two tunnels located in the São Paulo Metropolitan Area (SPMA). The tunnels show very distinct fleet profiles: in the Jânio Quadros (JQ) tunnel, the vast majority of the circulating fleet are Light Duty Vehicles (LDVs), fuelled on average with the same amount of ethanol as gasoline. In the Rodoanel (RA) tunnel, the particulate emission is dominated by Heavy Duty Vehicles (HDVs) fuelled with diesel (5% biodiesel). In the JQ tunnel, PM2.5 concentration was on average 52 μg m−3, with the largest contribution of Organic Mass (OM, 42%), followed by Elemental Carbon (EC, 17%) and Crustal elements (13%). Sulphate accounted for 7% of PM2.5 and the sum of other trace elements was 10%. In the RA tunnel, PM2.5 was on average 233 μg m−3, mostly composed of EC (52%) and OM (39%). Sulphate, crustal and the trace elements showed a minor contribution with 5%, 1% and 1%, respectively. The average OC:EC ratio in the JQ tunnel was 1.59 ± 0.09, indicating an important contribution of EC despite the high ethanol fraction in the fuel composition. In the RA tunnel, the OC:EC ratio was 0.49 ± 0.12, consistent with previous measurements of diesel fuelled HDVs. Besides bulk carbonaceous aerosol measurement, Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) were quantified. The sum of the PAHs concentration was 56 ± 5 ng m−3 and 45 ± 9 ng m−3 in the RA and JQ tunnel, respectively. In the JQ tunnel, Benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) ranged from 0.9 to 6.7 ng m−3 (0.02–0.1‰ of PM2.5) in the JQ tunnel whereas in the RA tunnel BaP ranged from 0.9 to 4.9 ng m−3 (0.004–0.02‰ of PM2.5), indicating an important relative contribution of LDVs emission to atmospheric BaP. Real-time measurements performed in both tunnels provided aerosol size distributions and optical properties. The average particle count yielded 73 000 cm−3 in the JQ tunnel and 366 000 cm−3 in the RA tunnel, with an average diameter of 48 nm in the former and 39 nm in the latter. Aerosol single scattering albedo, calculated from scattering and absorption observations in the JQ tunnel, showed a minimum value of 0.4 at the peak of the morning rush hour, reached 0.6 around noon and stabilized at 0.5 in the afternoon and evening. Such single scattering albedo range is close to other tunnel studies results, despite significant biofuel usage. Given the exceedingly high Black Carbon loadings in the RA tunnel, real time light absorption measurements were possible only in the JQ tunnel. Nevertheless, using EC measured from the filters a single scattering albedo of 0.32 for the RA tunnel has been estimated. The results presented here characterize particulate matter emitted from nearly 1 million vehicles fuelled with a considerable amount of biofuel, providing an unique experimental site worldwide.


Author(s):  
Hyungyu Park ◽  
Seonghyun Park ◽  
Janghoo Seo

Fine particulate matter entering the body through breathing cause serious damage to humans. In South Korea, filter-type air purifiers are used to eliminate indoor fine particulate matter, and there has been a broad range of studies on the spread of fine particulate matter and air purifiers. However, earlier studies have not evaluated an operating method of air purifiers considering the inflow of fine particulate matter into the body or reduction performance of the concentration of fine particulate matter. There is a limit to controlling the concentration of fine particulate matter of the overall space where an air purifier is fixed in one spot as the source of indoor fine particulate matter is varied. Accordingly, this study analyzed changes in the concentration of indoor fine particulate matter through an experiment according to the discharging method and location of a fixed air purifier considering the inflow route of fine particulate matter into the body and their harmfulness. The study evaluated the purifiers’ performance in reducing the concentration of fine particulate matter in the occupants’ breathing zone according to the operation method in which a movable air purifier responds to the movement of occupants. The results showed the concentration of fine particulate matter around the breathing zone of the occupants had decreased by about 51 μg/m3 compared to the surrounding concentration in terms of the operating method in which an air purifier tracks occupants in real-time, and a decrease of about 68 μg/m3 in terms of the operating method in which an air purifier controls the zone. On the other hand, a real-time occupant tracking method may face a threshold due to the moving path of an air purifier and changes in the number of occupants. A zone controlling method is deemed suitable as an operating method of a movable air purifier to reduce the concentration of fine particulate matter in the breathing zone of occupants.


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