New Methods for Real-Time Measurement of Environmental Airborne Particles

Real-time measurement of environmental airborne particles becomes an important topic in the fields of air pollution and public health. To overcome the disadvantages of the traditional methods, some new methods are introduced in this paper for monitoring environmental airborne particle exposure in real time, including PM10, PM2.5, PM1.0, semi volatile components, particle number or mass concentration, occupational mass fractions (inhalable, thoracic, alveolic according to EN481) as well as particle size distribution over a wide size range from micrometer down to nanometer. Typical environmental measurement results are presented and discussed in detail. These real-time results help identify the particle sources in time, and then some effective measures can be taken to control and minimize the airborne particle exposure so as to reduce the risk to human health.