Preliminary assessment of a low-cost particulate matter sensor by verification of filter-based method

Abstract

The high levels of pollution and their inadequate management have emerged as one of the national issues in the environmental area. The development of an integrated air quality and environmental radiation monitoring system based on low-cost sensors and real-time monitoring is needed for the early identification of environmental conditions efficiently. The initial stage of this research activity is focused on assessing air quality parameters, especially the concentration of ambient air particulate masses based on low-cost sensors and their verification with filter-based sampling methods. The activity was carried out in July-August 2022, in the Bandung Nuclear Area. The results of the low-cost sensor method obtained showed that the average mass concentration of airborne particulates with a diameter of less than 1 μm (PM1.0), 2.5 μm (PM2.5), and 10 μm (PM10) was 34.50±10.08 μg/m3, 54.36±17.90 μg/m3, and 62.01±19.30 μg/m3, respectively. Evaluation of the low-cost results obtained was verified using a filter-based sampling method, especially for PM2.5 fine air particulate parameters. Based on these preliminary data obtained, the comparative results of the two methods were obtained very well with a coefficient of determination value of 0.95 and an average value of comparison to the two methods of 0.83±0.08 excluding the overestimated PM2.5 concentration. The results obtained will be used as a reference in the development of low-cost sensors for multi-pollutant air monitoring systems to provide comprehensive information as an early warning system in improving air quality in Indonesia.