#airqualitymonitors — Public Fediverse posts

Accountability Win: Buc-ee’s Bathrooms Will Now Be Equipped With Air Monitors That Display A Photo Of The Person Who Made It Smell Bad

https://web.brid.gy/r/https://clickhole.com/accountability-win-buc-ees-bathrooms-will-now-be-equipped-with-air-monitors-that-display-a-photo-of-the-person-who-made-it-smell-bad/

PSA to makers: if you want to build an outdoor air quality meter, doing so with cheap breakouts almost guarantees a non-satisfactory result. Those $10-$20 breakouts are meant for indoor use and are not calibrated for outside use or outdoor pollutants. They also only give you a rough estimate, not a real AQI number. It's probably "okay" for comparison purposes, but the sensor probably won't be dependable. I speak from experience.

To do it "right", you need real sensors with detection thresholds at levels appropriate for the pollutant. The primary two pollutants in the US and most Western nations are ozone and particulate matter; but nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, and sulphur dioxide are also measired and contribute to pollution. There's no good way to measure for lead, if you wanted to do that, aside from lab tests.

A good breakout for particulate matter will run you $45-$65, but the prices only go up from there.

For example: acceptable carbon monoxide detection can be achieved with max detection thresholds of 50 to 100ppm, but most other pollutants require 2-5ppm thresholds to give you useful ratings. It's hard to find sensors in this range, but not impossible. However they tend to be very expensive and their lifespans are only rated for at least 5 years. They might last longer of course. They tend to be chips, not breakouts, and usually cost anywhere from $50 to $200. They're not cheap.

If you want to monitor CO2 levels, you need a sensor with sensitivity max of 1000ppm. This is plenty good enough. You can't get good readings with higher PPM sensors, you won't have enough sensitivity and CO2 increases about 3-5 ppm per year.

#maker #wx #aqi #airqualitymonitors #airquality

In the US, state and local officials sometimes turn off #AirQualityMonitors (this is allowed, within prescribed limits). The paper described in this blogpost finds that some appear to do so strategically to avoid regulatory consequences. Seems like a good prompt for some new guidance from #EPA -- so if you know the right folks there, maybe send this their way. https://energyathaas.wordpress.com/2022/11/28/trashing-your-scale-wont-make-you-less-fat/

h/t @catiehausman