The monitoring of air quality in real time allows us to anticipate specific pollution episodes and solve the problem before it occurs.
by Carlos Martínez*
The treatment of air pollution has traditionally been a challenge of greater caliber than water pollution. The lack of perception of danger by society in general has caused a false sense of security, jumped through the air with the arrival of the pandemic caused by COVID-19. The monitoring of air quality, especially indoors, allows to know in real time the concentration of certain pollutants in the air and turn this problem into something a little more tangible.
Have you ever seen a river or lake with a thin green layer on its surface and what gave off an unpleasant smell? Do you find them an appetizing water to drink? If this image has come to mind, you probably thought (and rightly so) that those waters were contaminated. This phenomenon is known as eutrophication and occurs in lakes or calm waters where there has been an uncontrolled discharge of nitrogen or phosphoric compounds, commonly present in detergents used by man.
In general, water pollution usually carries with it some warning signs, which allow us to recognize the danger and act accordingly. This also occurs, for example, with the presence of turbidity in swimming pools, which indicates the need to increase the purification of these to allow a safe bath.
Contaminants such as CO2, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), suspended particles, viruses, bacteria and fungi are present in many interior spaces without users knowing in many cases of their existence. In addition to promoting infections derived from the presence of microorganisms in the air, continued contact with air pollutants can have dire consequences for health in the short/medium term. Chronic tiredness, fatigue and shortness of breath are symptoms scientifically related to exposure to certain indoor pollutants and can make it very difficult to lead a normal life at home and at work. Likewise, prolonged exposure to indoor pollution can lead to more complex diseases linked to respiratory, cardiac and other pathologies.
Figure 1. Air monitoring in outdoor spaces.
Faced with the helplessness and ignorance caused by facing an enemy that you cannot see, there is a solution that has been gaining strength in recent years and that allows to make visible the problem of air pollution in indoor spaces. This is the monitoring of air quality, that is, the measurement and control of the concentration of certain pollutants in real time through the use of specialized sensors.
Indoor air quality monitoring
The monitoring of indoor air quality in real time allows us to anticipate specific pollution episodes and solve the problem before it even occurs. In addition, it is a very useful quick diagnostic tool, which allows you to select the best indoor air quality solutions for specific problems. In this way, if a high concentration of CO2 is detected, it can be confirmed that in that space there is a clear ventilation deficit. The CO2 present in indoor spaces comes mostly from the breaths of human beings, so without proper ventilation, its concentration can become very high.
Air pollution need not remain an invisible enemy.
This is also why it is being used to assess the safety of a space against a possible episode of COVID-19 (or any other airborne disease). Since both pollutants come from the same source (humans), it can be extrapolated as an indirect measure of the concentration of pathogenic pollutants in the air.
There are currently several solutions and devices on the market that allow us to monitor indoor air quality in real time. When selecting the solution that best suits us, we must focus on several determining factors, such as the sensitivity of the sensors used, the maximum time between calibrations or durability. These factors will determine the effectiveness of the measurements and, therefore, of the solutions taken.
Thus, we can conclude that air quality monitoring is the best and most promising strategy to define specialized solutions that improve air quality inside buildings. Air pollution does not have to remain an invisible enemy.
* Article written by Carlos Martínez, technical specialist of Sodeca IAQ, the division specialized in indoor air quality of Sodeca.
