FprCEN/TS 18086

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
01-julij-2024
Izpostavljenost na delovnem mestu - Nizkocenovni senzorji z direktnim
odčitavanjem za merjenje lebdečih nanopredmetov ter njihovih agregatov in
aglomeratov (NOAA) - Smernice za uporabo
Workplace exposure - Direct-reading low-cost particulate matter sensors for measuring
airborne NOAA - Guidelines for application
Exposition am Arbeitsplatz - Direkt anzeigende, kostengünstige Sensoren für die
Messung von NOAA am Arbeitsplatz - Leitlinien für die Anwendung
Exposition sur le lieu de travail - Capteurs de particules à lecture directe et à faible coût
pour la mesure des particules en suspension dans l'air NOAA - Lignes directrices pour
l'application
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: FprCEN/TS 18086
ICS:
13.040.30 Kakovost zraka na delovnem Workplace atmospheres
mestu
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

FINAL DRAFT
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION
SPÉCIFICATION TECHNIQUE
TECHNISCHE SPEZIFIKATION
May 2024
ICS 13.040.30
English Version
Workplace exposure - Direct-reading low-cost particulate
matter sensors for measuring airborne NOAA - Guidelines
for application
Exposition sur le lieu de travail - Capteurs de particules Exposition am Arbeitsplatz - Direkt anzeigende,
à lecture directe et à faible coût pour la mesure des kostengünstige Sensoren für die Messung von NOAA
particules en suspension dans l'air NOAA - Lignes am Arbeitsplatz - Leitlinien für die Anwendung
directrices pour l'application

This draft Technical Specification is submitted to CEN members for Vote. It has been drawn up by the Technical Committee
CEN/TC 137.
CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway,
Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and
United Kingdom.
Recipients of this draft are invited to submit, with their comments, notification of any relevant patent rights of which they are
aware and to provide supporting documentation.

Warning : This document is not a Technical Specification. It is distributed for review and comments. It is subject to change
without notice and shall not be referred to as a Technical Specification.

EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION
COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATION

EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNG

CEN-CENELEC Management Centre: Rue de la Science 23, B-1040 Brussels
© 2024 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved Ref. No. FprCEN/TS 18086:2024 E
worldwide for CEN national Members.

Contents Page
European foreword . 3
Introduction . 4
1 Scope . 6
2 Normative references . 6
3 Terms and definitions . 6
4 Symbols and abbreviations . 9
4.1 Symbols . 9
4.2 Abbreviations . 9
5 Measurement principle of low-cost PM sensors . 10
6 Usability of low-cost sensors for monitoring NOAA concentrations in workplaces . 12
7 Calibration and adjustment of low-cost PM sensors . 13
7.1 General. 13
7.2 Laboratory calibration and adjustment . 16
7.2.1 General. 16
7.2.2 Particle size dependence of sensor reaction . 16
7.2.3 Calibration and adjustment for polydisperse aerosols . 20
7.3 Comparability of sensors . 26
7.4 On site calibration in workplaces . 27
8 Interfering factors and error sources . 29
Annex A (informative) Sampling convention for different mass concentration fractions . 31
Annex B (informative) Calibration of low-cost PM sensors with monodisperse particles –
Results from prenormative research . 33
Annex C (informative) Calibration of low-cost PM sensors with polydisperse particles –
Results from prenormative research . 37
Annex D (informative) Workplace measurements – Results from prenormative research . 47
Annex E (informative) Measurement principle of low-cost PM sensors . 58
Bibliography . 64

European foreword
This document (FprCEN/TS 18086:2024) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 137
“Assessment of workplace exposure to chemical and biological agents”, the secretariat of which is held
by DIN.
This document is currently submitted to the Vote on TS.
This document has been prepared under a mandate given to CEN by the European Commission.
Introduction
The production and use of engineered nano-objects and their agglomerates and aggregates (NOAA) has
increased over the recent years, as well as the concerns related to their potential adverse health effects.
The measurement of nano-objects is particularly difficult because of the small size of the particles and
small relative mass in comparison with other contaminants. Human exposure to NOAA is most likely to
occur in workplaces, where they are produced, processed and handled in large quantities or over long
periods of time. Continuous monitoring of such workplaces would improve exposure assessment,
especially in cases where the exposure pattern is very inhomogeneous and large, and fluctuating
background concentrations are present.
There has been an increased interest in the use of low-cost particulate matter (PM) sensors in different
areas. Up to now, exposure concentrations are measured only during limited time periods and with
limited spatial resolution, using expensive bulky static measurement and sampling equipment and/or
direct reading personal monitors and personal samplers. In contrast, due to their low costs and small
size, the low-cost PM sensors allow for:
— the setting up of dense measurement networks in workplaces to monitor dust concentrations with
high spatio-temporal resolution;
— use as personal monitors;
— use to produce information on the efficiency of process controls of NOAA-production facilities, the
background and the far field.
Therefore, due to the lower costs compared with established scientific grade instruments, more devices
can be employed for in total lower costs. The main purpose of such sensor networks is to estimate
exposure levels in workplaces. At the time of writing this document, low-cost PM sensors should not be
considered for any compliance measurements, because they cannot replace reference measurements
e.g. with samplers for the respirable fraction. They should rather be considered as complementary to
reference measurements. However, this limitation can become obsolete in the future, when new
generations of low-cost PM sensors overcome the shortcomings of today’s sensors. They can thus be
applied as an indicator for exposure, as a warning system or to identify potential particle sources, e.g. as
a permanent implementation of a Tier 1 exposure assessment (EN 17058 [1]). Individual threshold
values may be defined to implement and/or initiate control measures.
The low-cost PM sensors available are based on measuring the light scattered by airborne particles,
which depends on particle size, shape and refractive index. To calibrate the sensors for the
determination of particle mass concentrations, average values for these properties, as well as for the
effective particle density, must be assumed. The sensors are typically calibrated for use in ambient air
monitoring. However, the particle properties assumed in the calibration for ambient use can be very
different from those of particles encountered in workplaces. Due to the wide diversity of particle
properties in workplace air, a single generalizable calibration for different workplaces is not feasible. In
addition, measurement artefacts, e.g. stemming from relative humidity, can be different in workplace
and atmospheric measurements.
Low-cost PM sensors exist with different levels of complexity, resulting in different wealth of
information, ranging from a voltage output as a measure for the total particle concentration, via
different size-integrated fractions of the mass and/or number concentration to number size
distributions with high size resolution. The focus of this document is on those sensors that are able to
deliver size-integrated number and/or mass concentrations in different size fractions. Most low-cost
PM sensors were originally developed for ambient air quality monitoring and are thus calibrated
following ambient sampling conventions, e.g. for PM and PM (US EPA 40 CFR part 62 [2] and 40
2,5 10
CFR part 53 [3], respectively), which are not identical with the sampling conventions for workplaces,
e.g. for the respirable or thoracic fraction according to EN 481 (see Annex A).
The methods and procedures described in this document apply to the sensor modules only and not to
complete devices, based on these. Sensor modules are considered to be low-cost, if their prices are at
least 10 to 100 times lower than the prices of established instruments of comparable type, e.g. those
described in CEN/TR 16013-2 [4] and CEN/TR 16013-3 [5].
1 Scope
This document gives guidelines on the use, calibration and evaluation of low-cost optical particulate
matter sensor modules and systems for workplace exposure assessments.
This document is based on extensive laboratory and workplace tests for airborne NOAA.
This document is particularly aimed at engineered NOAA at workplaces and the sensors’ applicability
for process control of NOAA-producing plants via airborne particle concentration measurements in
workplace air.
NOTE This document is also applicable to other airborne particles included in some of the tests during the
prenormative research.
2 Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content
constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For
undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
EN 481, Workplace atmospheres — Size fraction definitions for measurement of airborne particles
EN 1540, Workplace exposure — Terminology
ISO 27891, Aerosol particle number concentration — Calibration of condensation particle counters
ISO 21501-1, Determination of particle size distribution — Single particle light interaction methods —
Part 1: Light scattering aerosol spectrometer
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in EN 1540 and the following apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
— IEC Electropedia: available at https://www.electropedia.org/
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https://www.iso.org/obp
3.1
adjustment of a measuring system
set of operations carried out on a measuring system so that it provides prescribed indications
corresponding to given values of a quantity to be measured
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC Guide 99:2007, 3.11 [6]]
3.2
advanced aerosol photometer
measurement device that combines a photometric measurement of light scattered by a cloud of
particles inside a measurement volume to determine total number and/or mass concentrations with
spectrometric features to distinguish between concentrations in different particle size fractions
3.3
aerodynamic aerosol classifier
AAC
measurement device that size-classifies airborne particles according to the aerodynamic diame
...