Measuring Air Quality for Advocacy in Africa (MA3): Feasibility and Practicality of Longitudinal Ambient PM2.5 Measurement Using Low-Cost Sensors

Awokola, Babatunde; Okello, Gabriel; Mortimer, Kevin; Jewell, Chris; Erhart, Annette; Semple, Sean

doi:10.3390/ijerph17197243

Cited by 45 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…This is the first study performed in Malaysian homes that measured real-time indoor PM 2.5 concentrations using the PA-II-SD device, a low-cost particle counter, and the first to provide personalized air-quality feedback with the aim of reducing smoking in the home. This study found that the device is suitable for measuring indoor PM 2.5 for this purpose, as has been demonstrated in other recent studies [20][21][22][23][24] . The indoor SHS-PM 2.5 concentrations reported in this current study were generally lower than the levels reported in previous studies performed in European countries 10,19 , with the median of 18.3 µg/m…”

Section: Measuring Pm 25 In Smoking Households With the Purple Air In...supporting

confidence: 81%

Measuring secondhand smoke in homes in Malaysia: A feasibility study comparing indoor fine particulate (PM<sub>2.5</sub>) concentrations following an educational feedback intervention to create smoke-free homes during the COVID-19 pandemic

Zulkifli¹,

Rani²,

Mutalib³

et al. 2022

Tob. Induc. Dis.

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INTRODUCTION Extensive regulations have been introduced to reduce secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure among non-smokers in Malaysia. However, there is still a need to encourage behavior change of smokers in relation to making homes smoke-free. This feasibility study aimed to use low-cost air pollution monitors to quantify SHS concentrations in Malaysian households and to explore the practicality of using personalized feedback in educating families to make their homes smoke-free. METHODS A total of 35 smokers in three states in Malaysia were recruited via snowball and convenience sampling methods. Indoor fine particulate (PM 2.5 ) concentrations in participants’ homes were measured for 7 days before and after educational intervention using a pre-defined template, which included personalized air-quality feedback, and information on SHS impacts were given. The feedback was delivered over two 20-minute phone calls or in-person sessions following the completion of the air-quality measurements. Data were corrected for outdoor PM 2.5 concentrations from the nearest environmental monitor. RESULTS Despite the challenges in conducting the project during COVID-19 pandemic, the delivery of the intervention was found to be feasible. Twenty-seven (77%) out of 35 participants completed PM 2.5 measurements and received a complete intervention. The median (IQR: 25th –75th percentile concentrations) SHS-PM 2.5 concentrations at baseline and follow-up were 18.3 µg/m 3 (IQR: 13.3–28.3) and 16.2 µg/m 3 (IQR: 10.4 – 25.6), respectively. There was a reduction of SHS-PM 2.5 concentrations at follow-up measurement in the houses of 17 participants (63%). The change in corrected indoor PM 2.5 concentrations between baseline and follow-up was not statistically significant (Z= -1.01, p=0.29). CONCLUSIONS This educational intervention, combining the use of a low-cost air particle counter with personalized air-quality feedback, was found to be feasible in the Malaysian setting. It has potential to trigger behavior change among smokers, reducing indoor smoking and consequent SHS concentrations, and increasing smoke-free home implementation. A large-scale trial is needed.

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Section: Measuring Pm 25 In Smoking Households With the Purple Air In...supporting

confidence: 81%

Measuring secondhand smoke in homes in Malaysia: A feasibility study comparing indoor fine particulate (PM<sub>2.5</sub>) concentrations following an educational feedback intervention to create smoke-free homes during the COVID-19 pandemic

Zulkifli¹,

Rani²,

Mutalib³

et al. 2022

Tob. Induc. Dis.

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“…PurpleAir PA-II laser particle counting devices (PurpleAir, Utah, USA), were used for PM 2.5 monitoring, connected to 20 000 mAh portable power banks (Anker Innovations, Changsha, China). These low-cost monitors show excellent correlation with reference standard gravimetric analysis (GRIMM reference method; R 2 =0.98), with field use in various African settings 67 68. Monitors and power banks were carried in specially designed waist bags which held the device but did not cover any the intake (sampling) port.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring smoke: an ethnographic study of air pollution in rural Malawi

et al. 2021

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Air pollution adversely affects human health, and the climate crisis intensifies the global imperative for action. Low-/middle-income countries (LMIC) suffer particularly high attributable disease burdens. In rural low-resource settings, these are linked to cooking using biomass. Proposed biomedical solutions to air pollution typically involve ‘improved cooking technologies’, often introduced by high-income country research teams. This ethnography, set in a rural Malawian village, aimed to understand air pollution within its social and environmental context. The results provide a multifaceted account through immersive participant observations with concurrent air quality monitoring, interviews and participatory workshops. Data included quantitative measures of individuals’ air pollution exposures paired with activity, qualitative insights into how smoke is experienced in daily life throughout the village, and participants’ reflections on potential cleaner air solutions. Individual air quality monitoring demonstrated that particulate levels frequently exceeded upper limits recommended by the WHO, even in the absence of identified sources of biomass burning. Ethnographic findings revealed the overwhelming impact of economic scarcity on individual air pollution exposures. Scarcity affected air pollution exposures through three pathways: daily hardship, limitation and precarity. We use the theory of structural violence, as described by Paul Farmer, and the concept of slow violence to interrogate the origins of this scarcity and global inequality. We draw on the ethnographic findings to critically consider sustainable approaches to cleaner air, without re-enacting existing systemic inequities.

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“…Built-in Wi-Fi enables the sensor to upload readings to the cloud, and store in the PurpleAir map, from where data can be downloaded. PA has been used for measuring ambient air pollution in African countries ( Awokola et al , 2020 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of Low-Cost Particle Counters for Cotton Dust Exposure Assessment in Textile Mills in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Nafees

Iqbal

Cullinan

et al. 2021

Annals of Work Exposures and Health

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Objective There is a lack of consensus on methods for cotton dust measurement in the textile industry, and techniques vary between countries—relying mostly on cumbersome, traditional approaches. We undertook comparisons of standard, gravimetric methods with low-cost optical particle counters for personal and area dust measurements in textile mills in Pakistan. Methods We included male textile workers from the weaving sections of seven cotton mills in Karachi. We used the Institute of Occupational Medicine (IOM) sampler with a Casella Apex 2 standard pump and the Purple Air (PA-II-SD) for measuring personal exposures to inhalable airborne particles (n = 31). We used the Dylos DC1700 particle counter, in addition to the two above, for area-level measurements (n = 29). Results There were no significant correlations between the IOM and PA for personal dust measurements using the original (r = −0.15, P = 0.4) or log-transformed data (r = −0.32, P = 0.07). Similarly, there were no significant correlations when comparing the IOM with either of the particle counters (PA and Dylos) for area dust measurements, using the original (r = −0.07, P = 0.7; r = 0.10, P = 0.6) or log-transformed data (r = −0.09, P = 0.6; r = 0.07, P = 0.7). Conclusion Our findings show a lack of correlation between the gravimetric method and the use of particle counters in both personal and area measurements of cotton dust, precluding their use for measuring occupational exposures to airborne dust in textile mills. There continues to be a need to develop low-cost instruments to help textile industries in low- and middle-income countries to perform cotton dust exposure assessment.

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Measuring Air Quality for Advocacy in Africa (MA3): Feasibility and Practicality of Longitudinal Ambient PM2.5 Measurement Using Low-Cost Sensors

Cited by 45 publications

References 23 publications

Measuring secondhand smoke in homes in Malaysia: A feasibility study comparing indoor fine particulate (PM<sub>2.5</sub>) concentrations following an educational feedback intervention to create smoke-free homes during the COVID-19 pandemic

Measuring secondhand smoke in homes in Malaysia: A feasibility study comparing indoor fine particulate (PM<sub>2.5</sub>) concentrations following an educational feedback intervention to create smoke-free homes during the COVID-19 pandemic

Exploring smoke: an ethnographic study of air pollution in rural Malawi

Use of Low-Cost Particle Counters for Cotton Dust Exposure Assessment in Textile Mills in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

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