Airly announce MCERTS certification for both PM2.5 and PM10
Airly air quality monitors receive independent certification
The instrumentation company Airly has announced the award of an MCERTS certificate for its ‘Airly Air Quality Sensor PM+Gas’ systems. This means that the Airly particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10) sensors have been independently verified for qualitative and quantitative measurements, and comply with the Environment Agency’s MCERTS Performance Standards for Indicative Ambient Particulate Monitors.
Explaining the value of MCERTS accreditation, Airly CEO Wiktor Warchalowski says: “Air quality data is used to inform extremely important decisions, so it is vitally important that measurements are accurate and reliable. Third-party verification through schemes such as MCERTS, therefore allows local authorities, consultants and researchers to choose technology with independently proven levels of performance.
“We already have thousands of sensors operating in the field, but the award of this MCERTS certificate is particularly important because it adds a further layer of credibility to Airly’s products and services.”
In order to achieve the MCERT requirements, Airly’s sensors were tested in a laboratory and in the field. Assessors also visited Airly’s manufacturing facility to verify the robustness of the company’s quality management systems.
The field tests were conducted over a 3-month period with two candidate Airly PM+Gas sensor systems, collocated with a reference PM monitor in Birmingham.
Additional testing was undertaken using two Airly Air Quality PM sensor systems and two Airly Air Quality PM+Gas sensor systems. The two variants were found to agree well, with R2 = 0.998 and slopes close to 1 for both PM2.5 and PM10. The test data report was submitted by Bureau Veritas to CSA Group, the MCERTS certification body.
Commenting on the results of the tests, Warchalowski says: “Our sensors have been tested extensively before, but these evaluations, coupled with the MCERTS award, provide Airly customers with the confidence that they are using one of the best performing small sensors in the world.
“It was interesting to note, for example, that the results from the Airly sensors in the Birmingham evaluation did not require any correction factors. Airly customers will also be pleased to learn that the MCERTS certificate applies to both PM2.5 and PM10 over an extremely wide range, 0-1,000 µg/m3. This is important, because it means that the sensors can be used at low levels for assessment against hourly, daily and yearly limit values, as well as for monitoring dust levels near development projects, waste management facilities, materials handling sites, industrial processes etc.
“The world is beginning to recognise the enormous air quality opportunity presented by small sensors, and new players are entering the market with increasing frequency, we therefore urge customers to include MCERTS in their specifications to ensure they achieve the levels of performance that companies like Airly are able to deliver.”