Articles | Volume 13, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-2413-2020
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-2413-2020
Research article
 | 
15 May 2020
Research article |  | 15 May 2020

Laboratory evaluation of particle-size selectivity of optical low-cost particulate matter sensors

Joel Kuula, Timo Mäkelä, Minna Aurela, Kimmo Teinilä, Samu Varjonen, Óscar González, and Hilkka Timonen

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Cited articles

Austin, E., Novosselov, I., Seto, E., and Yost, M. G.: Laboratory evaluation of the Shinyei PPD42NS low-cost particulate matter sensor, PLoS One, 10, 1–17, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0137789, 2015. 
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Bai, L., Huang, L., Wang, Z., Ying, Q., Zheng, J., Shi, X., and Hu, J.: Long-term field Evaluation of Low-cost Particulate Matter Sensors in Nanjing, Aerosol Air Qual. Res., 20, 1–12, https://doi.org/10.4209/aaqr.2018.11.0424, 2019. 
Berglund, R. N. and Liu, B. Y. H.: Generation of Monodisperse Aerosol Standards, Environ. Sci. Technol., 7, 147–153, https://doi.org/10.1021/es60074a001, 1973. 
Budde, M., D. Schwarz, A., Müller, T., Laquai, B., Streibl, N., Schindler, G., Köpke, M., Riedel, T., Dittler, A., and Beigl, M.: Potential and Limitations of the Low-Cost SDS011 Particle Sensor for Monitoring Urban Air Quality, 3rd International Conference on Atmospheric Dust (DUST2018), ProScience, 5, 6–12, https://doi.org/10.14644/dust.2018.002, 2018. 
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Short summary
Particle-size-dependent detection ranges of low-cost particulate matter sensors were evaluated in a laboratory experiment. Six different sensor models were evaluated altogether. The results showed that none of the sensor models adhered to the technical specifications provided by the manufacturers, and thus a high risk of sensor misuse is posed. It is paramount that the limitations regarding the particle size discrimination of low-cost sensors are acknowledged properly.