Low-cost sensor for particulate matter concentration: an evaluation of its measurement performance in the field by direct comparison with a calibrated reference system

The WHO defines threshold values of PMs. Different studies where wearables are used also to monitor PMs. With the main goal of developing a new wearable monitoring system for research purposes based on low-cost sensors and open-source hardware and considering the wide variety of low-cost sensors available on the market today, we focused on evaluating the measurement performance of a particular type of low-cost PMS, the Plantower PMS A003I. It was connected to an Arduino Micro, which served as the microcontroller and data logger. The low-cost system was used in a direct comparison with a calibrated DustTrak DRX as the reference instrument. The test was conducted in a real office in four different sections of monitoring activity on four different days. The result of the proposed method suggests that it is possible to use low-cost sensors to evaluate indoor air quality in terms of PM levels.