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Low-Cost Sensors for Environmental Research and Public Health
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Low-Cost Sensors for Environmental Research and Public Health

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2023) | Viewed by 16383

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Thomas Cole-Hunter

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Science and Engineering Faculty, School of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane City, QLD 4000, Australia
Interests: air pollution; energy transition; environmental health; pacific island countries; physical activity; sustainable transport; climate change
Prof. Dr. Mark J. Nieuwenhuijsen

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
ISGlobal, Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Barcelona, Spain
Interests: urban and transport planning and health; air pollution; noise; temperature; green space; physical activity
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

A Special Issue on “Low-Cost Sensors for Environmental Research and Public Health” in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is being organized.

Determinants of environmental quality, such as air pollution, heat, and noise, are a major environmental threat to public health. For example, millions of people around the world have a lower quality of life, or may die earlier than they should, due to traffic-related emissions. Moreover, air pollution, noise and heat can be produced inside the home and outside in the region by the modern necessity for energy, transport and waste management.

Environmental quality is particularly relevant in economically developing countries, which are challenged with less access to clean fuels and technology, or the weaker regulation of environmental laws. Even in economically developed countries, exposure to air pollution, noise or heat may not be equal for all citizens, with some residences or workplaces being closer to emission sources or heat “islands” than others that are also less adequately monitored.

The advent and development of low-cost environmental sensors have brought about a myriad of opportunities for studying and improving public health. Due to their low cost, they are accessible to a wider audience, yet also pose unique challenges in data quality and control. In the right hands, and with due care, they can help to answer questions on air pollution, noise, heat, public health, and environmental justice among under-represented countries or neighborhoods.

For this Special Issue, we are seeking high-quality contributions from all around the world on ground-breaking research and novel applications of low-cost sensors for environmental monitoring and public health. We also welcome reviews, methodological papers, evaluations, best practices, and critical analysis. We invite contributors from areas of academia, practice, policy and education.

Keywords

  • low-cost sensors
  • air pollution
  • noise; heat
  • environment
  • citizen science
  • community engagement
  • public health

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 4167 KiB  
Article
Smart-Autonomous Wireless Volatile Organic Compounds Sensor Node for Indoor Air Quality Monitoring Application
by C. Bambang Dwi Kuncoro, Moch Bilal Zaenal Asyikin and Aurelia Amaris
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(4), 2439; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19042439 - 20 Feb 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2553
Abstract
Several studies reported the significant effect of indoor air quality on human health, safety, productivity, and comfort because most humans usually conduct 80%–90% of their activity inside the building. This is generally due to the fact that indoor pollution is associated with volatile [...] Read more.
Several studies reported the significant effect of indoor air quality on human health, safety, productivity, and comfort because most humans usually conduct 80%–90% of their activity inside the building. This is generally due to the fact that indoor pollution is associated with volatile organic compounds (VOCs), pollutants with chronic health effects, both non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic, on humans. Therefore, this study focused on developing wireless VOCs sensor nodes with a low-power strategy feature to perform an autonomous operation in indoor air quality monitoring (IAQM). The sensor node mainboard consists of a microcontroller-based AVR (ATmega-4808) that supports a low power mode and low-power IAQ-Core sensor for VOCs detection. The low-power sensing algorithm developed also allowed the sensor node to consume a total power of 0.22 mAh for one cycle of operation, which includes the initial process, TVOCs value reading process, data transmitting process, and low power mode process at a time interval of 30 min. The most significant power was observed to be consumed in the data transmitting process with 0.13 mAh or 58% of total power consumption in one cycle of sensor node operation. Furthermore, the 10F capacitance of the supercapacitor was able to drive the VOCs sensor node for 139 s and it was recommended that further studies use micro energy harvesting (from an indoor environment) to extend its lifetime. The 1541-minute field experiment conducted also showed that TVOCs and CO2 values were successfully measured and displayed over an internet connection on the monitoring terminal dashboard. The recorded real-time TVOCs value of 175 ppb (<200 ppb) indicates good air quality. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Low-Cost Sensors for Environmental Research and Public Health)
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28 pages, 2366 KiB  
Article
Evaluating the Performance of Low-Cost Air Quality Monitors in Dallas, Texas
by Haneen Khreis, Jeremy Johnson, Katherine Jack, Bahar Dadashova and Eun Sug Park
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(3), 1647; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19031647 - 31 Jan 2022
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 3761
Abstract
The emergence of low-cost air quality sensors may improve our ability to capture variations in urban air pollution and provide actionable information for public health. Despite the increasing popularity of low-cost sensors, there remain some gaps in the understanding of their performance under [...] Read more.
The emergence of low-cost air quality sensors may improve our ability to capture variations in urban air pollution and provide actionable information for public health. Despite the increasing popularity of low-cost sensors, there remain some gaps in the understanding of their performance under real-world conditions, as well as compared to regulatory monitors with high accuracy, but also high cost and maintenance requirements. In this paper, we report on the performance and the linear calibration of readings from 12 commercial low-cost sensors co-located at a regulatory air quality monitoring site in Dallas, Texas, for 18 continuous measurement months. Commercial AQY1 sensors were used, and their reported readings of O3, NO2, PM2.5, and PM10 were assessed against a regulatory monitor. We assessed how well the raw and calibrated AQY1 readings matched the regulatory monitor and whether meteorology impacted performance. We found that each sensor’s response was different. Overall, the sensors performed best for O3 (R2 = 0.36–0.97) and worst for NO2 (0.00–0.58), showing a potential impact of meteorological factors, with an effect of temperature on O3 and relative humidity on PM. Calibration seemed to improve the accuracy, but not in all cases or for all performance metrics (e.g., precision versus bias), and it was limited to a linear calibration in this study. Our data showed that it is critical for users to regularly calibrate low-cost sensors and monitor data once they are installed, as sensors may not be operating properly, which may result in the loss of large amounts of data. We also recommend that co-location should be as exact as possible, minimizing the distance between sensors and regulatory monitors, and that the sampling orientation is similar. There were important deviations between the AQY1 and regulatory monitors’ readings, which in small part depended on meteorology, hindering the ability of the low-costs sensors to present air quality accurately. However, categorizing air pollution levels, using for example the Air Quality Index framework, rather than reporting absolute readings, may be a more suitable approach. In addition, more sophisticated calibration methods, including accounting for individual sensor performance, may further improve performance. This work adds to the literature by assessing the performance of low-cost sensors over one of the longest durations reported to date. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Low-Cost Sensors for Environmental Research and Public Health)
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17 pages, 2488 KiB  
Article
Using Low-Cost Sensors to Assess Fine Particulate Matter Infiltration (PM2.5) during a Wildfire Smoke Episode at a Large Inpatient Healthcare Facility
by Phuong D. M. Nguyen, Nika Martinussen, Gary Mallach, Ghazal Ebrahimi, Kori Jones, Naomi Zimmerman and Sarah B. Henderson
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(18), 9811; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18189811 - 17 Sep 2021
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 3680
Abstract
Wildfire smoke exposure is associated with a range of acute health outcomes, which can be more severe in individuals with underlying health conditions. Currently, there is limited information on the susceptibility of healthcare facilities to smoke infiltration. As part of a larger study [...] Read more.
Wildfire smoke exposure is associated with a range of acute health outcomes, which can be more severe in individuals with underlying health conditions. Currently, there is limited information on the susceptibility of healthcare facilities to smoke infiltration. As part of a larger study to address this gap, a rehabilitation facility in Vancouver, Canada was outfitted with one outdoor and seven indoor low-cost fine particulate matter (PM2.5) sensors in Air Quality Eggs (EGG) during the summer of 2020. Raw measurements were calibrated using temperature, relative humidity, and dew point derived from the EGG data. The infiltration coefficient was quantified using a distributed lag model. Indoor concentrations during the smoke episode were elevated throughout the building, though non-uniformly. After censoring indoor-only peaks, the average infiltration coefficient (range) during typical days was 0.32 (0.22–0.39), compared with 0.37 (0.31–0.47) during the smoke episode, a 19% increase on average. Indoor PM2.5 concentrations quickly reflected outdoor conditions during and after the smoke episode. It is unclear whether these results will be generalizable to other years due to COVID-related changes to building operations, but some of the safety protocols may offer valuable lessons for future wildfire seasons. For example, points of building entry and exit were reduced from eight to two during the pandemic, which likely helped to protect the building from wildfire smoke infiltration. Overall, these results demonstrate the utility of indoor low-cost sensors in understanding the impacts of extreme smoke events on facilities where highly susceptible individuals are present. Furthermore, they highlight the need to employ interventions that enhance indoor air quality in such facilities during smoke events. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Low-Cost Sensors for Environmental Research and Public Health)
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12 pages, 1010 KiB  
Article
Indoor Air Quality in Domestic Environments during Periods Close to Italian COVID-19 Lockdown
by Maria Chiara Pietrogrande, Lucia Casari, Giorgia Demaria and Mara Russo
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(8), 4060; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18084060 - 12 Apr 2021
Cited by 42 | Viewed by 4396
Abstract
This paper describes the in situ monitoring of indoor air quality (IAQ) in two dwellings, using low-cost IAQ sensors to provide high-density temporal and spatial data. IAQ measurements were conducted over 2-week periods in the kitchen and bedroom of each home during the [...] Read more.
This paper describes the in situ monitoring of indoor air quality (IAQ) in two dwellings, using low-cost IAQ sensors to provide high-density temporal and spatial data. IAQ measurements were conducted over 2-week periods in the kitchen and bedroom of each home during the winter, spring, and summer seasons, characterized by different outside parameters, that were simultaneously measured. The mean indoor PM2.5 concentrations were about 15 μg m−3 in winter, they dropped to values close to 10 μg m−3 in spring and increased to levels of about 13 μg m−3 in summer. During the winter campaign, indoor PM2.5 was found mainly associated with particle penetration inside the rooms from outdoors, because of the high outdoor PM2.5 levels in the season. Such pollution winter episodes occur frequently in the study region, due to the combined contributions of strong anthropogenic emissions and stable atmospheric conditions. The concentrations of indoor volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and CO2 increased with the number of occupants (humans and pets), as likely associated with consequent higher emissions through breathing and metabolic processes. They also varied with occupants’ daily activities, like cooking and cleaning. Critic CO2 levels above the limit of 1000 ppm were observed in spring campaign, in the weeks close to the end of the COVID-19 quarantine, likely associated with the increased time that the occupants spent at home. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Low-Cost Sensors for Environmental Research and Public Health)
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