We can’t survive without air…every child knows. But, is the air we breathe causing us harm..slowly taking us into the grip of diseases. There have been numerous studies on this subject. The worsening air quality in Indian cities is already affecting the lives of the very young and the elderly, and reducing labour productivity. The effect range from breathlessness to asthma damage lungs preventing us from leading normal healthy lives.
Is there something we can do about this!
Are we the one causing this pollution – knowingly or unknowingly giving pain to the people around us, to the people who serve us. The journey begins with knowing what we breathe.
Do we know that –
- Air around us might have dust, fine particulates, photo- chemical smog, odors, gases such as SO2, H2S, 02, NO, NO2, etc.
- Industries we work in or run might be emitting toxic gases & toxic dusts such as Silica, Beryllium, Arsenic, etc.
While air purifiers & air filters are now easily available, how do we know if we need to install these. And if we install, which are the most affected areas where these can be installed. IF ONLY WE COULD MEASURE THE POLLUTION IN THE AIR, ALL THIS COULD BE POSSIBLE. We could possibly realize what is going wrong and do something about it.
AIR PARTICLE COUNTER is an amazing instrument that can exactly do this for us. A particle counter, accurately measures the diameter and number of particles in the air with greater accuracy than can be obtained by any other method. The particles may be either droplets of fluid or particles of solids. Since the particle size of most pollutants is clearly known, the APC can help accurately measure the type and the level of pollutants in the air. APC are very cost effective & extremely easy to use.
Some of the areas where an APC is begging to be used and are common environments most prone to Airborne Particulates are –
– Diesel vehicle transportation & service depots
– Power generation (fossil fuel burning) units
– Traffic-related emissions
– Charcoal-based heating/cooking
– Cement manufacturing, mining, & stone crushing locations
– Metallurgy processes (melting, pouring, torch-cutting)
– Agro. industrial (flour milling & agricultural field burning)
….and many more.
The Air in the industrial environments might also contain Carbon monoxide (CO) gas, which is a deadly, colorless, odorless, poisonous gas. The incomplete burning of various fuels, including coal, wood, charcoal, oil, kerosene, propane, and natural gas produce it.
Carbon monoxide is harmful when breathed because it displaces oxygen in the blood and deprives the heart, brain, and other vital organs of oxygen. Large amounts of CO can overcome us in minutes without warning—causing us to lose consciousness and suffocate.
Besides tightness across the chest, initial symptoms of CO poisoning may include
headache, fatigue, dizziness, drowsiness, or nausea. Sudden chest pain may occur in people with angina. During prolonged or high exposures, symptoms may worsen and include vomiting, confusion, and collapse in addition to loss of consciousness and muscle weakness. Symptoms vary widely from person to person. CO poisoning may occur sooner in those most susceptible: young children, elderly people, people with lung or heart disease, people at high altitudes, or those who already have elevated CO blood levels, such as smokers. Also, CO poisoning poses a special risk to fetuses.
CO poisoning can be reversed if caught in time. But even if we recover, acute poisoning may result in permanent damage to the parts of our body that require a lot of oxygen such as the heart and brain. Significant reproductive risk is also linked to CO.
One may be exposed to harmful levels of CO in boiler rooms, breweries, warehouses, petroleum refineries, pulp and paper production, and steel production; around docks, blast furnaces, or coke ovens; or in one of the following occupations:
- Welder
- Garage mechanic
- Firefighter
- Carbon-black maker
- Organic chemical synthesizer
- Metal oxide reducer
- Longshore worker
- Diesel engine operator
- Forklift operator
- Marine terminal worker
- Toll booth or tunnel attendant
- Customs inspector
- Police officer
- Taxi driver.
An APC helps measure the CO levels too in the air and can prove to be a life-saver.
Where do I get good quality APC from?
Although APC’s have been available in In India too, these are either low in quality of priced too high. Recently, CEM is a world leader in the advanced Testing & measuring instruments, has announced its entry into the Indian market. It has launched a range of high quality APC though CEM India, which is a joint venture with an Indian company and shall be headed by Mr. Vikram Bhansali, who has more than 20 years of experience in the field. Explaining us his reasons for bringing CEM products to India, Vikram says, “CEM’s 3 in-house R&D centres have worked for months to work out the magic for us. We want to be the leaders in India replicating the success stories we had created in European & North American markets.“
CEM is ISO-9001 certified and the products are approved by globally benchmarked UL, GS, CE and RoHS.
CEM Air Particle Counter with unique built-in camera for capturing videos and photos that are stored onto internal memory or a microSD card. The DT-9880/DT-9881 can measure up to 6 channels of particle sizes plus Air Temperature and Relative Humidity. Use the included software to generate reports with videos, photos, and data points.
The instrument simultaneously measures and displays 6 channels of particle sizes (down to 0.3 µm), Air Temperature, Humidity, Dew Point and Wet Bulb. The Model DT-9881 also measures CO and HCHO Concentrations in air. It has a 2.8″ TFT Color LCD display with Built-in 320×240-pixel camera takes videos (3GP)(DT-9881 only) and photo images (JPEG) and records them in internal 74MB memory. It stores 5000 records (date, time, counts, humidity, temperature, sample volumes, and location label) and 20 minutes of video. It has selectable sample time, count data, and programmable delay. Max, Min, DIF, AVG record, Date/time setup controls, Auto Power Off and Mini-USB port connection is also provided.
All the meters that CEM sells carry a warranty against any manufacturing defects. This hassle-free warranty allows the customer to get the instrument replaced within an unparalleled record period of 48 hours. The conditions of warranty are however, mentioned on the website www.cem-instruments.in
Other products from CEM : Thermal Imagers, Infrared Thermometers, Digital Multimeters, Clamp-on Meters, Video Borescopes, Radiation meters, Air Quality Products, Data Loggers, Insulation Testers, Electrical Testers, Light Meters, Sound Level Meters, Thermo-Anemometers, Gas Detectors, Manometers and various measuring instruments.
All these products are available directly from CEM’s office at Kolkata. Along with normal sales channels, CEM will also be pursuing online sales via all leading e-commerce portals like Tolexo, Paytm, Urjakart and Indsutrybuying. All CEM product details and catalogues are available on its website www.cem-instruments.in. CEM can be reached at info@cem-instruments.in
