Validation of microAeth® as a black carbon monitor for fixed-site measurement and optimization for personal exposure characterization

This paper reports on validation experiments with the recently developed microAeth®, a pocket-sized device which is able to obtain real-time and personal measurements of black carbon (BC) aerosol. High reproducibility was observed when comparing the results from six new individual units during fixed-site monitoring out of a window (relative standard deviation [RSD] = 8% ± 5%, N = 1442). The results obtained from the microAeth devices agreed with those obtained from a full size rack mounted Aethalometer, based on both the 1-minute data (R = 0.92, slope = 1.01 ± 0.01, N = 1380) and 24-h average data. The 24-h average of real time data obtained from the microAeths was comparable to the BC concentration obtained from 24-h integrated PM_2.5 filter deposits, as determined by multi-wavelength optical absorption (R = 0.98, slope = 0.92 ± 0.07, N = 12). Rapid environmental changes in relative humidity (RH) and temperature (T) can result in false positive and negative peaks in the real time BC concentrations, though averages > 1-2-hour are only minimally affected. An inlet with a diffusion drier based on Nafion® tubing was developed in order to use BC data with a high time resolution. The data shows that the diffusion drier greatly reduce the impacts from rapid changes in RH and T when the monitoring system is worn in close proximity to the body (e.g., in the vest pocket).