Presented by Kimberly Anderson, MS, PhD
Assistant Professor
Division of Environmental Health Sciences

Exposure to ambient air pollution is ubiquitous. The World Health Organization estimates that nearly 4.2 million deaths are attributable to outdoor air pollution and has identified air pollution exposure as a global health priority. Ambient particle mass concentration is typically monitored using a relatively small number of instruments in fixed locations, which are unable to resolve the spatial and temporal inhomogeneity of ambient particulate exposure as a person moves through different environments. Over the past ten years advances in technology have resulted in an explosion of low-cost direct-reading sensors (<$2500) designed for measuring exposures. Low-cost sensors offer the opportunity to evaluate exposure variability at high spatial and temporal resolutions however, users must understand the performance and limitations of these sensors in order to apply them appropriately. This talk will discuss the laboratory evaluation of a low-cost aerosol sensor to determine its utility for personal exposure monitoring and will discuss a case study of personal air pollution exposures collected from walking through “green” and “urban” areas around the Twin-Cities Metro area.

All faculty, staff, and students welcome! Light refreshments will be served.