Dust and Particulate Air Monitoring

Dust or particulate air sampling measures the concentration of physical particles in the air. Dust will often have many other contaminants attached to it but air monitoring is often conducted to measure the concentration of particles / particulates in the air.

Complications arise when we consider the size of the particulate.

Most of the particulates in the air are very small (less than 1 micron in size) and many are what we call ultra-fine particles (which are less than 0.1 micron in size). In fact over 95% of particulates cannot be seen by the naked eye. This means that all the fine dust particles that you may be able to see represent a very small portion of the particles in the air. The smaller the particle the more easily it can penetrate into the deepest part of the lungs and this is why it is crucial to sample for these smaller particulates. This is often not done as the equipment required to accurately sample for ultra-fine particulates can be difficult to source and expensive. A Building Biologist will certainly be able to identify sources of ultra-fine particulates, measure the concentration and offer recommendations to minimise or prevent exposure. Toner dust from printers and diesel particulates from diesel vehicle emmissions are just 2 common sources of ultra-fines.