Accurate, Low Cost PM_2.5 Measurements Demonstrate the Large Spatial Variation in Wood Smoke Pollution in Regional Australia and Improve Modeling and Estimates of Health Costs

• Main Author: Dorothy L. Robinson
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-08-01
• Series: Atmosphere
• Subjects: wood smoke; low cost sensors; calibration; health costs; spatial variability; PM_2.5
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/11/8/856

The accuracy and utility of low-cost PM_2.5 sensors was evaluated for measuring spatial variation and modeling population exposure to PM_2.5 pollution from domestic wood-heating (DWH) in Armidale, a regional town in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, to obtain estimates of health costs and mortality. Eleven ‘PurpleAir’ (PA) monitors were deployed, including five located part of the time at the NSW government station (NSWGov) to derive calibration equations. Calibrated PA PM_2.5 were almost identical to the NSWGov tapered element oscillating microbalance (TEOM) and Armidale Regional Council’s 2017 DustTrak measurements. Spatial variation was substantial. National air quality standards were exceeded 32 times from May–August 2018 at NSWGov and 63 times in one residential area. Wood heater use by about 50% of households increased estimated annual PM_2.5 exposure by over eight micrograms per cubic meter, suggesting increased mortality of about 10% and health costs of thousands of dollars per wood heater per year. Accurate real-time community-based monitoring can improve estimates of exposure and avoid bias in estimating dose-response relationships. Efforts over the past decade to reduce wood smoke pollution proved ineffective, perhaps partly because some residents do not understand the health impacts or costs of wood-heating. Real-time Internet displays can increase awareness of DWH and bushfire pollution and encourage governments to develop effective policies to protect public health, as recommended by several recent studies in which wood smoke was identified as a major source of health-hazardous air pollution.