SickBuildingSyndrome.uk

Particulate monitoring

PM10 Monitoring

Independent, research-grade PM10 monitoring for UK offices and workplaces — quantifying the coarse particulate exposure linked to upper-respiratory complaints and Sick Building Syndrome.

Optical particle counter Continuous deployment WHO / UK benchmarking
Airborne dust visible in office sunbeam

Why PM10

PM10 captures the coarse-particle exposures that PM2.5 alone misses

PM2.5 attracts most of the published research because of its cardiovascular and cognitive impacts. But PM10 — the broader coarse-particle fraction — is what most workplace occupants actually perceive as "dusty air". Resuspended floor dust, textile fibres, mould spores, pollen and skin flakes all sit between 2.5 and 10 micrometres in diameter, and all are deposited in the upper airways where they trigger the sore-throat, rhinitis and cough complaints common in SBS clusters.

PM10 monitoring also exposes operational issues that PM2.5 misses. Aggressive dry-sweeping in the morning shift, a vacuum without a HEPA filter, a poorly sealed building envelope adjacent to a construction site — all show up first in the PM10 trace, often hours before any PM2.5 elevation.

We run PM10 monitoring as part of every full IAQ deployment using the same optical particle counter that reports PM2.5, with size discrimination across the 0.3–10 µm range. When source-attribution is required we add gravimetric filter cassettes for microscopy or elemental analysis at a UKAS-accredited laboratory.

Methodology

A PM10 monitoring deployment

  1. 1

    Stage 01

    Outdoor baseline

    Co-located outdoor reference monitor at the building's fresh-air intake to establish indoor/outdoor ratio.

  2. 2

    Stage 02

    Indoor deployment

    Optical particle counters at breathing-zone height across affected zones, control zones, lobbies and high-traffic corridors for 5–10 working days.

  3. 3

    Stage 03

    Source attribution

    Cleaning regime mapping, walk-through during peak occupancy, and — where warranted — gravimetric filter sampling for microscopy or elemental analysis.

  4. 4

    Stage 04

    Reporting

    Charted PM10 traces against the cleaning schedule, occupancy and outdoor reference; benchmarking against WHO and UK objectives; ranked remediation plan.

Guideline values

PM10 benchmarks

StandardThreshold (µg/m³)Averaging period
WHO 2021 AQG15Annual mean
WHO 2021 AQG4524-hour mean
UK Air Quality Objective40Annual mean
UK Air Quality Objective5024-hour mean (max 35 exceedances/year)
WELL Building Standard≤ 50Sampling
Microscopic view of airborne particles

Symptoms

The complaints that PM10 monitoring explains

Persistent dry cough that improves at the weekend. Sore or scratchy throat from mid-morning onwards. Stuffy nose, sneezing or rhinitis with no allergy history. Dry, gritty eye sensation. Visible dust on monitor screens within a day of cleaning. Skin irritation in occupants of carpeted, densely populated open-plan zones.

When PM10 monitoring reveals concentrations above 50 µg/m³ during occupied hours, these complaints have a clear explanation. When PM10 is consistently below 20 µg/m³ the investigation moves elsewhere — usually to VOCs, formaldehyde or ventilation rate.

FAQ

PM10 monitoring — common questions

PM10 is airborne particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of 10 micrometres or less. It includes the fine PM2.5 fraction plus coarser particles such as resuspended dust, pollen, mould spores, fibres from carpet and textiles, and outdoor soil particles. PM10 is most strongly associated with upper respiratory irritation — sore throats, rhinitis, cough — which are characteristic Sick Building Syndrome complaints.

Dusty workplace? Cough cluster?

Book continuous PM10 monitoring with source-attribution analysis. Call 01322 555566.

Request PM10 monitoring

Related monitoring

Workplace IAQ

Investigate SBS