Particulate matter in ambient air is harmful, and laboratories take every opportunity to make analysis more robust. With correct filter selection, they can build confidence in their data, protect public safety, and ensure regulatory compliance.
Air monitoring laboratories know that particulate matter (PM) in ambient air can be dangerous or even fatal. Any opportunity to make analysis more robust, and results more reliable, then, should be acted upon.
Filter selection is one such way technicians can build confidence in their results, protect public safety, and ensure regulatory compliance. But how can they ensure they are matching the right product to the right process?
Small particles with a huge health impact
Nasal mucociliary clearance is the human body’s sophisticated filtration system. Inhaled particles are captured by mucus in the nostrils, then pushed out by cilia, which are the microscopic hairs inside the nose. This stops foreign substances entering the lungs and being absorbed into the blood stream.
Some PM, or particle pollution, however, is small enough to bypass nasal mucociliary clearance. PM10, or particles with a diameter of less than 10 μm, and PM 2.5, of less than 2.5 μm, tend to be inhalable.1
These particles can be inhaled deep into the lungs – and the smaller they are, the more likely they are to penetrate deeply into the lungs, and even release material that can cross the lining of the lungs and into the blood stream.
PM can lead to premature death in people with heart or lung diseases. It can result in heart attacks, and irregular heartbeats, aggravate asthma symptoms and decrease lung function. It is the most vulnerable – children, older people, and those already living with chronic conditions – who are most at risk.2
Serious responsibility
For all these reasons, governments around the world insist on robust quality testing. The United States Environmental Protection Agency defines ambient air monitoring as the “systematic, long-term assessment of pollutant levels” in outdoor air.3
By measuring quantity and types of certain pollutants, it assesses the extent of pollution, supports the implementation of air quality goals and standards, and evaluates the effectiveness of existing emissions control strategies. In short, it keeps people safe.
Organisations take these responsibilities seriously, but they can sometimes overlook the importance of correct filter selection when working to detect and quantify PM.
Inadequate retention efficiency or flow characteristics, for example, can allow target particles to evade collection. In addition, some filter properties, such as being susceptible to mass loss or too fragile to withstand clamping, can skew the relationship between baseline and final results.
It all adds up to a lack of confidence in data, threats to regulatory compliance and public health, and the need for costly, time-consuming – and wholly avoidable – re-tests.
To find out how to match the right filter to your processes for robust, reliable, reproducible results, read our free eBook. Filter selection: A simple path to increased air monitoring efficiency is available to download now
References
1Concentrations of particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5). (2022) Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/air-quality-statistics/concentrations-of-particulate-matter-pm10-and-pm25 Last accessed 22 November 2022
2Health and Environmental Effects of Particulate Matter (PM). (2022). The United States Environmental Protection Agency. Available at: https://www.epa.gov/pm-pollution/health-and-environmental-effects-particulate-matter-pm Last accessed: 22 November 2022
3Managing Air Quality - Ambient Air Monitoring. (2022). The United States Environmental Protecting Agency. Available at: https://www.epa.gov/air-quality-management-process/managing-air-quality-ambient-air-monitoring Last accessed: 22 November 2022