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Air quality in Australia is among the cleanest in the world. However, it is vulnerable to sudden spikes in pollution due to bushfires, dust storms, and some industrial or commercial activities like coal mining and oil refining.
In the meantime, communities must take an active part in protecting the air that they breathe, and there are many dust monitoring devices in Australia that can help them take the first step. It is fairly easy to do, but before getting to this, let’s take a closer look at why dust is a problem that is often not seen but should never be ignored.
The Impact of Dust on Communities
Dust is made of visible and invisible particles suspended in the air or deposited on different surfaces. They vary in size, shape, and chemical composition, and these characteristics determine whether they will have health effects or not. Meanwhile, some hazardous forms of dust are those generated from asbestos, coal, and crystalline silica dust. And, they come with a long list of health problems, including pneumoconiosis, which saw a resurgence in 2015.
Getting Started on Air Quality Monitoring
The first step in air quality monitoring is to gather as much relevant information as you can. There are many reliable sources of data, including the Environmental Protection Agency or EPA. And, you can use this to decide which pollutants to track. For instance, you can focus on PM10 particles, which are dust and smoke particles that are no bigger than 10 micrometres. Besides, a good rule of thumb to follow is to not fixate on pollutants that are not regulated or have minimal health impacts.
Get Expert Advice
For your air quality monitoring project to be effective, you must have access to experts who can help you work out the details. They can tell you how to get the best dust monitoring devices in Australia, where to do your monitoring, and how to understand the results.
Choose Your Equipment
When choosing which equipment to use, it is important to take the expert’s advice into consideration. You can also do some research online to gain more valuable insight.
Virtually all dust monitoring equipment manufacturers have some sort of online presence that you can visit. There are also forums and customer reviews that can help make your decision a bit easier. Furthermore, aside from looking at the quality of the devices, you must also pay attention to the cost implications. And, aside from the price of the equipment itself, you need to know about its insurance since it will be left out in the open. You should also find out if there are hidden costs in extracting the data in a form that is easy to analyse.
Analyse the Data
Dust monitoring devices can generate tons of data, and it is possible for you to analyse them on your own. All you need is an adequate skill level in MS Excel and a lot of patience. However, it is best to hire an expert to do this for you. Doing this will help reduce the possibility of making errors. Additionally, it will raise the credibility of your results since it was analysed independently.
Share the Information
It is important to communicate the results to other members of the community. This will help encourage their involvement and make it easier to implement the corresponding action plans. Raising awareness could also help you raise funds in the form of donations.
Author bio: Sylvia James is a copywriter and content strategist. She helps businesses stop playing around with content marketing and start seeing the tangible ROI. She loves writing as much as she loves the cake.
