Development and validation of an intra-calibration procedure for MiniDISCs measuring ultrafine particles in multi-spatial indoor environments

Abstract

Since the real exposure to indoor ultrafine particles depends on temporal and spatial variation of aerosol concentration, particles dynamic behavior becomes relevant in studying indoor pollution. With this aim, the characterization of Ultrafine Particles (UFPs) variability within different environments (multi-spatial indoor environments) can be regarded as a specific tool in assessing the human exposure. In the case of urban indoor environments, instruments able to measure UFPs at high time resolution with high sensitivity are needed, lightweight and silent. For this purpose, personal monitors unipolar diffusion charging based could be used for their ease of use. Among them, Miniature DIffusion Size Classifier (MiniDISC), a small, silent and wearable analyzer measures particle number concentration, particle modal size and lung deposited surface area of nanoparticles at high time resolution, for dynamic or static use. Nevertheless, the typical ±30% accuracy specified by the manufacturer does not make this sensor reliable enough to measure gradients of urban doses of UFPs occurring in multi-spatial indoor environments.The presented work aims at improving the performances of MiniDISCs for their use in simultaneous measurement of urban UFPs by a multiple set-up, such as in indoor environments inside a building.For this purpose, a new intra-calibration procedure has been developed among MiniDISCs, named Best Intra-calibration (BIC), which corrects data of electrical signals of two or more instruments to those of one selected as reference. Compared to a linear regression analysis for PNC of UFPs, BIC procedure has two main advantages. First, it makes it possible to improve simultaneously the precision of particle number concentration (PNC) and particle modal size (PMS). Secondly, it allows multiple instruments to operate as a fleet, such as a spatial delocalization of an instrument in multiple environments.The procedure was tested in realistic environmental conditions, evaluating indoor PNC and PMS of UFPs by both parallel samplings and multi-spatial samplings. Three types of monitoring campaigns were carried out: inter-comparisons between PNC of UFPs from three MiniDISCs and one Condensation Particle Counter; intra-comparisons between PNC and PMS of UFPs from three MiniDISCs; urban monitoring in-field campaign of UFPs with three MiniDISCs in an indoor workplace, a physic laboratory, in the next hallway and outside. The latter campaign aimed at evaluating how UFPs are influenced by the interaction among different environments inside the building and by the work activity. For these purposes, the dynamical behavior and the ratios Indoor to Outdoor were investigated, in addition to a novel ratio Indoor to Hallway. The BIC procedure allows increasing the precision measured by the weighted coefficients of variation CVs of about 7 times. The results support the novel Intra-calibration procedure to improve the intra variability of MiniDISCs in parallel sampling, making them attractive for measuring UFPs by both the metrics PNC and PMS in multi-spatial indoor environments.