Monitoring air quality at construction for health and safety

October 17, 2022 5:02 pm

With India’s sprawling cities and already poor air quality from various types of pollution, it is becoming a serious health issue – construction being one of the major contributors.

Globally, there is an increasing awareness of environmental health and the air quality we breathe. This awareness has put pressure on those generating pollutants, like fugitive emissions, to increase their monitoring, control and reporting activities. Construction and demolitions are inevitable in densely populated areas, though the dust and fumes from the job sites are not always pleasant to be around. With India’s sprawling cities and already poor air quality from various types of pollution, it is becoming a serious health issue – construction being one of the major contributors.

Fugitive emissions are pollutants released into the air from cracked seals, pipes and other unintended areas that appear during construction or dirt-moving activities. Fugitive emissions can also be defined as unintentional emissions from facilities or actions—for example, road construction—that cannot reasonably pass through a vent, stack, chimney, or another functionally equivalent opening. These emissions are fine particles (PM10 and PM2.5), aerosols and dust, significantly impacting outdoor air quality.

Many monitoring agencies request real-time air quality data from companies to prove their fugitive emissions levels meet regulations. If emission levels exceed the limit, monitoring agencies can administer consequences. Activities such as demolition and groundwork can create large amounts of dust, and other harmful emissions can be made worse by contaminated lands and hazardous materials. Additionally, the heavy machinery used in construction predominantly uses diesel fuel, which adds to the overall emissions. 

While specifically designed for outdoor air monitoring, BlueSky Air Quality Monitors are small, lightweight instruments to meet specific health and safety standards. Each easy-to install monitor can transmit real-time data to the cloud for secure 24/7 remote viewing on an interactive map or easily share your data with communities and other project players. You can either operate a BlueSky air quality detector individually or purchase multiple monitors to build a network of sensors that accurately report real-time, hyperlocal air quality measurements. Seeing and sharing your data has never been easier.

Unlike other small, low-cost air quality monitors on the market, BlueSky Air Quality Monitors come factory calibrated to improve the readings of the devices.BlueSky monitors also come with self-diagnostics to ensure that the data collected is, and remains, reliable.

Benefits of BlueSky Air Quality monitors 

• Precision data – TSI factory calibrated PM sensor with the option to program a custom calibration factor 
• Unique laser-based light scattering particle sensors – simultaneously outputs PM1.0, PM2.5, PM4.0, PM10 
• Additional sensors gathering weather data, including ambient temperature and relative humidity 
• Designed for outdoor use – performs consistently in a wide range of humidity and temperatures and is protected from rain, bugs and direct sunlight 
• Two ways to download data – from the removable SD card or the cloud-based TSI Link™ 
• Easy and quick installation 
• Real-time map view – visualise data from the cloud using Wi-Fi, without additional software or an app 
• Remotely manage all your devices from anywhere 
• Alert notifications – Receive justin-time custom phone or email alerts 
• API Data Services seamless data access and integration to third party applications.

To learn more about the BlueSky Air Quality monitors, visit www.tsi.com/BlueSky-IN