Pm 10 and 2.5

WHY SHOULD WE MEASURE AMBIENT PARTICULATE MATTER?

The growing awareness of both PM10 and PM2.5 is largely associated with the potential damaging effects they can have on the human body. The World Health Organisation (WHO) believes particles are affecting more people worldwide than any other pollutant. Primary health effects include damage to the respiratory and cardiovascular systems. Due to the small size of PM10 and PM2.5 particles, they can penetrate the deepest parts of the lungs as well as access the gas exchange regions of the lung via diffusion.

As a result of the damaging health effects from PM10 and PM2.5 the WHO recommend the following exposure limits:

 

These guidelines can be hard to follow and many authorities do not meet the limits above, for example, the United States and Europe have much higher PM10 exposure thresholds. Governments must weigh up the potential damage to population health with the cost of reducing particulate concentrations. A great first step to understanding the seriousness of the issue is to monitor PM.

It is worth also mentioning larger particles (above 10µm). These sized particles are not usually acknowledged in government health legislation as they can be filtered out in the nose and throat. Instead, they are known as a nuisance rather than a health risk. Total Suspended Particles (TSP) is the term used when referring to larger particles. TSP does not have a specified size limit and therefore covers the full range of particle sizes. It is common for TSP to be measured alongside PM10 and PM2.5, particularly at industrial sites where nuisance dust assessment and monitoring is becoming more frequent.