Ultrafine particle monitoring and research is becoming more popular and widespread throughout Australasia and the world as governments, universities, research groups and industry invest in this measurement technologies in an effort to better protect public health, the environment and workplaces.

The European Union now requires mandatory monitoring of ultrafine particles as part of its revised Air Quality Directive, adopted in October 2024. This new directive mandates measuring both the concentration and size of UFPs, which are defined as particles smaller than 100 nanometers (0.1um), to better understand their health risks and environmental impact. Article HERE.

The move aligns with the World Health Organization’s recommendations and requires member states to implement monitoring strategies that include particle number (PN) concentrations and particle size distribution (PSD) measurements.

Exposure to ultrafine particles has been linked to a wide variety of health conditions in humans over time. The World Health Organization has even suggested that “Air pollution is responsible for 6.7 million premature deaths every year” Article HERE.

Many instruments on the market such as optical particle counters and photometers lack the sensitivity and resolution to be able to accurately count and size these tiny particles which can exist down to a few nanometers in size. Alpha Scientific has close to 40 years of industry experience with measurement technologies of this nature and can help organizations select the correct measurement tools to suit their application.