Development of a PM2.5 Index Adapted to Short-Term Measurements to Provide Real Time Information to Residential Building Occupants

The ALLO project aims to be innovative in the way it approaches information and its dissemination to residents who are concerned about air quality in their home or are not familiar with the subject. In this paper, we are focusing on one important pollutant, i.e. PM2.5, on more particularly on low-cost sensors that provides PM2.5 data in rooms at short timesteps (usually 5 min.). The PM2.5 concentration level will be then analyzed and ad hoc recommendations will be given to the occupants according to the potential health hazards and the possibilities offered to them to improve their air quality. This paper aims to explore the relationship between PM2.5 short-term concentrations and 24-hr averages used in exposure limit values or air index quality breakpoints that are related to the results of studies about the health impacts of air pollution. The goal is then to evaluate appropriate values for low, medium and high categories when using quasi real time PM2.5 measurements. Data obtained by both in-situ measurements and numerical simulations are used to this extend. Preliminary results show that a moderate relationship between short-term and longer-term air quality data does exist and can be nevertheless employed to give adequate information about air quality to the residents.