Today’s weather is quite volatile due to continuous changes in nature, whether gradual natural shifts or the effects of human activity. Every country faces natural problems, including severe disasters such as tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and many others. For Thailand, however, a problem that is difficult to solve and even harder to eliminate is high levels of airborne dust, especially fine particles such as PM 2.5 and PM 10, which have been accumulating over the past one to two years until they reached dangerous levels and a high-dust situation was finally declared.
This dust problem comes from the buildup of vehicle smoke and exhaust, as well as industrial activities and production processes that use rock and soil, which scatter tiny dust particles into the air. Fine dust particles are hazardous: they irritate the skin on contact and are especially dangerous if they get into the eyes. In addition, because they are so small, both PM 2.5 and PM 10 can easily enter the body, lodging in the respiratory tract when inhaled, as they are too small for the body’s natural defenses to filter out. There are several ways to protect yourself from dust, such as wearing clothing that covers your body to avoid direct contact with dust, which greatly reduces irritation; avoiding high-risk areas such as heavy traffic and areas near industrial plants; and remembering to wear a face mask to reduce the amount of dust you inhale.
However, dust is not limited to PM 2.5 and PM 10; other types of airborne dust are also hazardous. Because dust particles are so small, they form easily and cannot be fully prevented, so avoiding dusty areas may be the best approach. But dust is hard to detect and sometimes invisible to the naked eye, and by the time it can be seen, it may be too late, with the body having already accumulated a large amount of dust. This led to technology that helps people avoid dust: the portable dust monitor. Dust monitors were originally essential equipment for industrial plants, but with high dust levels, they have become necessary even for the general public. This gave rise to the portable dust monitor using an electrostatic system (Electrostatic Dust Monitor, EDM). In Chiang Mai, which has high dust levels, this type of dust monitor is already in use. Portable electrostatic dust monitors use electrostatic particle separation to capture and assess dust levels in greater detail. They can measure not only small, hazardous, and well-known particles such as PM 2.5 and PM 10, but also total suspended particulates (TSP), making them tools that cover safety quite comprehensively.
One concern with portable dust monitors, however, is reliability. Because they are small devices without the precision of instruments used in highly polluted industrial plants, many people see portable dust monitors as inadequate or not effective enough. In fact, new innovations such as electrostatic separation can detect many types of dust and are sufficient for checking how clean the air is. You can therefore be confident that portable electrostatic dust monitors are reliable and effective. Using a portable dust monitor remains a good way to avoid pollution and check for high dust levels. If you are still unsure about their performance, we recommend choosing an accurate portable dust monitor from PICO, which delivers correct and reliable dust measurements. PICO also has experts who can provide effective assistance if you need advice or have any questions or concerns about using a portable dust monitor. PICO is a reliable company you can trust for quality, with a long track record guaranteed by real users.