Air quality is an increasing concern due to its impacts on human health. Inhalation of ozone, particulate matter (PM), and other airborne pollutants have been linked to respiratory illness and premature death. Interestingly, the number of national and state ozone and PM monitoring stations are commonly less than 100 per state. This low number of stations may present challenges for spatial interpretation of air quality; instead the station may use their data to estimate the concentration of pollutants between monitoring sites. Low-cost atmospheric monitors can address the challenges faced by a small number of stations. The goal of this work was to assess the accuracy, reproducibility, and reliability of low-cost sensors. The sensors used in the study were manufactured by Aeroqual and Purple Air. These sensors were deployed during the summer and fall of 2019 near a New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) station monitoring ozone, particulate matter, and meteorological information. This study highlights the impact of sensor housing on the data quality. Duplicate Aeroqual ozone sensors housed within vendor purchased enclosures had R2 values ranging from 0.594 to 0.872. However, duplicate Aeroqual ozone sensors housed within inverted buckets demonstrated R2 values up to 0.974. When compared to the NJDEP monitoring station, duplicate Aeroqual ozone sensors housed within vendor enclosures displayed R2 values ranging from 0.297 to 0.527. Compared to R2 values up to 0.777 for the Aeroqual ozone sensors inside of inverted buckets. These results highlight the importance of proper sensor deployment to mitigate issues generated by temperature and humidity to gather reliable information. These assessments will contribute to the citizen scientists in addressing personal exposure, hotspot identification, and other applications.

Assessing low cost air quality monitors at Rider University

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.