Low cost air quality monitors in agriculture

Agriculture workers can be exposed to dust and toxic gases. Exposure to these hazardous airborne contaminants have been associated with a reduction in lung function in farmers. Currently, there are commercially available low-cost indoor air quality (IAQ) monitors that measure dust and toxic gases. However, limited research has been conducted to determine if low-cost monitors could be useful in agricultural settings.

Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the Foobot (Airboxlab, San Francisco, CA, USA), a low-cost (IAQ) monitor, is sufficiently robust to operate in agricultural environments and provide useful and accurate information to farmers. Multiple Foobots sampled at two sites, a tractor repair shop (“Shop”) for 43 days and a finishing room in a swine production building (“Barn”) for 40 days, where they monitored dust and toxic gases. Reference monitors were placed with the Foobots and collected samples for 19 days at the shop and 21 days at the barn.

The dust and toxic gas concentrations reported by the Foobots and reference monitors were compared to determine the accuracy of the Foobots. It was found that a strong linear relationship did not exist (R²<0.66) between the Foobots and reference monitors. This study also found that the concentrations measured at the sampling site varied between the Foobots. After sampling for 40 days in the barn the force sensor and dust sensor in the Foobot had been damaged and no longer worked. Therefore, it was concluded that the Foobot is unable to supply farmers with accurate information and is not durable enough for agricultural environments. Future research will investigate the use of other low-cost monitors in agriculture.