Exposure to air pollution has many detrimental effects on human health. Although the risks of air pollution exposure are well known, personal exposures are rarely evaluated due to the cost of measurement. Reducing the fixed costs associated with purchasing personal exposure sampling equipment would allow more industries (as well as individual citizens) to measure air quality. Understanding the pollutants to which individuals are exposed and where those exposures occur, allows mitigation and remediation steps to be taken. The result is a reduction in air pollution-associated disease burden. From an economic perspective, this can reduce medical costs and co-pays as well as lost production time from medical leave. In addition to high purchase prices (typically $500-$1500), the personal sampling pumps currently commercially available are hampered by a number of technological limitations. By using positive displacement lobe pump technology that is ubiquitous in other industries but which has yet to be applied to personal exposure measurements the limitations of current sample pumps can be addressed while simultaneously being produced at a fraction of the cost of current technologies. During Phase I, pump geometry and design will be optimized for performance, flow control mechanisms will be evaluated, and low cost manufacturing options compared with the intention of developing a reliable sampling pump with a bill-of-material price target of $70. By understanding the performance/price tradeoffs of different design and manufacturing options the team will be well positioned to transition the functional pump prototypes into commercially viable products during Phase II.
Nearly every active sampling technique for workplace aerosol and vapor exposure assessment relies on the use of a personal sampling pump. Sample pumps that are currently available in the marketplace, however, are too expensive for widespread deployment. Development of a low-cost sample pump, as an alternative to the state-of-the-art diaphragm pump, will increase our ability to assess exposures and protect worker health.
