Chemical pollution is a hugely complex arena of life-protecting importance. Correct filter selection is a seemingly straightforward way to enhance confidence in right first-time results and avoid the need for productivity-draining retests.
Air monitoring laboratories are acutely aware of the dangers chemical pollution poses to human health and regulatory compliance. It is a highly complex arena, involving thousands of targets, multiple methodologies, and numerous analytical methods.
In such a rich and varied landscape, it can be easy to overlook the role of the humble filter. But getting this step right can enhance confidence in right first-time results and avoid the need for productivity-draining retests.
Bypassing natural systems
Nasal mucociliary clearance stops foreign substances entering the lungs. Inhaled particles are captured by mucus, and then pushed out of the body by cilia, or the microscopic hairs inside the nose. However, some particulate matter (PM), is small enough to bypass this natural defense mechanism.
PM 10, or particles with a diameter of less than 10 μm, and PM 2.5, pr particles of less than 2.5 μm, can be inhaled deep into the lungs. (1) They can be made up of hundreds of chemicals and, the smaller they are, the more likely they are to cross the lining of the lungs, and into the blood stream.
Once in the blood, these chemicals, which might include organics, heavy metals, and gases such as sulphur dioxide (SO2), carbon monoxide (CO), and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), are a clear and present danger to human health.
Figures from the European Environment Agency (EEA), for example, estimate NO2 was responsible for 40,400 premature deaths across the 27 European Union member states in 2019 alone. (2)
Confidence in the face of complexity
Laboratories are bound by strict national and regional air quality regulations to detect and quantify levels of dangerous chemicals in PM.
The importance of robust, reliable data to assess the extent of pollution, support the implementation of air quality goals and standards, and evaluate the effectiveness of existing emissions control strategies, cannot be overstated. Yet laboratories can sometimes underestimate the full impact of correct filter selection
During sample collection, the filter’s retention efficiency may be inadequate to collect the target PM prior to chemical analysis, for example. Or the filter’s materials could contribute to background levels of the target chemical.
When releasing chemicals from PM, laboratories may deploy any number of analytical techniques, from high-performance liquid chromatography to mass spectrometry. It means they will have to match the filter to the method as well as the target chemical.
It all adds up to a lack of confidence in data, that poses a threat to regulatory compliance, results in costly yet avoidable re-tests, and crucially, puts public health at risk.
To find out how to match the right filter to your process, download our free eBook, Filter selection: A simple path to increased air monitoring efficiency, now.
References
- Concentrations 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
- Health impacts of air pollution in Europe, 2021. (2021). Available at: https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/air-quality-in-europe-2021/health-impacts-of-air-pollution