AAAR 32nd Annual Conference
September 30 - October 4, 2013
Oregon Convention Center
Portland, Oregon, USA
Abstract View
Validating the Performance of the RTI MicroPEM to Support Indoor Air Pollution Exposure Health Studies
Charles Rodes, Ryan Chartier, J. Randall Newsome, James Carlson, JONATHAN THORNBURG, RTI International
Abstract Number: 288 Working Group: Portable and Inexpensive Sensor Technology for Air Quality Monitoring
Abstract The RTI MicroPEM Personal Exposure Monitor was recently developed to measure sized particulate matter (PM) for both personal and indoor exposures, including strong source indoor air pollution (IAP) settings such as cookstove environments. Performance validation data have yet to be summarized to gauge level of readiness and improvement in uncertainty over prior art technologies.
Currently, MicroPEM performance is being validated via a combination of domestic and in-country IAP settings. Performance parameters investigated include precision, accuracy, representativeness, data capture rates, and ease of deployment. We used data from a 50 residence Sri Lanka cookstove study to determine consistency with these findings.
Integrated and real-time MicroPEM data were collected during laboratory, domestic and in-country deployment settings. Available performance data were compiled, including in-country usability and deployability information, to characterize MicroPEM performance as related to performance goals, as well as to compare to alternative filter and real-time sampling techniques.
The accuracy of the MicroPEM against a pseudo-referee sampler (MSP PEM) during simulated solid fuel cookstove IAP showed a positive bias of 3.8 percent for PM2.5. Collocated MicroPEMs deployed in Sri Lankan homes yielded a relative standard deviation (RSD) of 11.6% for PM2.5. A smaller RSD value of 2.4% was obtained during a domestic (US) exposure study. Ease of deployability led to a valid data capture rate in Sri Lanka that exceeded 97.5%.
To date, the v3.2 MicroPEM has met all performance goals. Factors such as accuracy, precision, and representativeness are excellent, even when operating in strong source IAP settings. Deployability is simple resulting in valid data capture rates exceeding 97%. In-country testing in Sri Lanka demonstrated the viability for local deployments by modestly trained non-technical field staff. Although a quantitative comparison to a true referee exposure metric is needed, the performance of the MicroPEM in IAP settings was excellent.