Event Location: NSH 3305

Abstract: Air quality has long been a major health concern for citizens around the world, and increased levels of exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) has been definitively linked to serious health effects such as cardiovascular disease, respiratory illness, and increased mortality.  PM2.5 is one of six attainment criteria pollutants used by the EPA, and is similarly regulated by many other governments worldwide. Unfortunately, the high cost and complexity of most current instruments results in a lack of detailed spatial and temporal resolution, which means that concerned individuals have little insight into their personal exposure levels. This is especially true regarding hyper-local variations and short-term pollution events associated with industrial activity, heavy fossil fuel use, or indoor activity such as cooking.
 
Advances in sensor miniaturization, decreased fabrication costs, and rapidly expanding data connectivity have encouraged the development of small, inexpensive devices capable of estimating PM2.5 concentrations. This new class of sensors opens up new possibilities for personal exposure monitoring and building instrumentation. It also creates new challenges related to calibrating and characterizing inexpensively manufactured sensors to provide the level of precision and accuracy needed to yield actionable information without significantly increasing device cost. Additionally, we must develop new methods for visualizing and presenting data in an interactive fashion such that the wealth of data presented by many spatially distributed sensors continues to empower individuals and communities to better understand their personal exposure.
 
This proposed thesis seeks to pursue the following three questions:
Can an inexpensive air quality monitor based on mass-manufactured dust sensors be calibrated efficiently in order to achieve inter-device agreement in addition to agreement with professional and federal equivalence monitors?
Can an inexpensive air quality monitor increase the confidence and capacity of individuals to understand and control their indoor air quality?
Can networks of inexpensive air quality monitors be used in tandem with existing building monitoring systems to characterize and control air quality in large multi-occupant spaces such as offices and university buildings?
 
In the proposed experiments, we will utilize the Speck fine particulate monitor, developed over the course of four years. To account for variations in sensitivity, we have developed a calibration procedure whereby fine particles are aerosolized from a container resting on a 6-inch speaker cone. This allows us to produce Specks for commercial distribution as well as the experiments presented herein. Over the course of the thesis, we will continue to refine this process to increase accuracy and precision as well as automation and throughput.
 
Drawing from previous pilot studies, we will distribute low-cost monitors through local library systems and community groups. We will use pre-deployment and post-deployment surveys to characterize user perception of personal exposure and the effect of a low-cost fine particulate monitor on empowerment.
 
We will also deploy monitors in academic and industry campuses in order to explore the potential for small internet-connected particulate monitors to provide higher spatiotemporal resolution for air quality data in building management and automation applications.

Committee:Illah Nourbakhsh, Chair
Aaron Steinfeld
Albert Presto
James Longhurst, University of West England, Bristol