The US EPA office has completed its evaluation of the information that you submitted for the above equivalent method application. Based on the technical review of the information submitted, the Process Modeling Research Branch of the U.S. EPA’s National Exposure Research Laboratory has determined that the associated candidate method has been shown to reasonably satisfy all applicable requirements for designation as a Class III equivalent method for measuring mass concentrations of PM2.5 in ambient air. Accordingly, the method has been recommended for equivalent method designation to the Director of the National Exposure Research Laboratory. Please note that the method will not be considered as a U.S. EPA-designated equivalent method until an official Notice of Designation has been authorized by the Director and has been published in the U.S. Federal Register. I will notify you in writing when the Notice is published. You may watch for the Notice publication at http://www.regulations.gov.
Grimm Technologies, Inc. Model EDM 180 PM2.5 Monitor
Automated Equivalent Method: EQPM-0311-195 “Grimm Technologies, Inc. Model EDM 180 PM2.5 Monitor,” light scattering continuous ambient particulate monitor operated for 24 hours at a volumetric flow rate of 1.2 L/min, configured with a Nafion®-type air sample dryer, and operating with software model 1.177 version 3.30 or later and firmware version 7.80 or later, in accordance with the Grimm Technologies, Inc. Model EDM 180 Operation and Instruction Manual. Approval given by the Acting Manager, Reference and Equivalent Methods Program US EPA.
After an extensive phase of development and thorough testing, we have succeeded in enhancing our software with state-of-the-art features and important performance improvements.
The 1.100-series spectrometers are lightweight, small, portable units measuring 24 x 12 x 6 cm and with a weight of approx. 1.7 kg + battery (0.7 kg); they are used for the continuous measurement of particles in the air (aerosols). The highest time resolution attainable with this unit is 1 s, making it a unique single particle counter in the world.
The result from the conductivity measurement combined with the unipolar diffusion charger, the current of the aerosol electrometer and a calibration factor enables this setup to reach a total number concentration range of 500 to > 106 particles/cm³ and an average particle diameter range of 25 to 300nm.
The NanoCheck sensor consists of an aerosol Faraday cup electrometer combined with a unipolar corona charger and a time multiplexed electrode for conductivity measurement.
The result of the conductivity measurement combined with the diffusion charger, the current of the aerosol electrometer and a calibration factor enables this setup to reach a total number concentration range of 500 to > 106 particles/cm³ and an average particle diameter range of 25 to 300nm.
As a consequence, the above compact system has a wide field of applications: particle count, determination of surface, volume and mass distribution within the range of 25 nm to 32 µm in more than 30 size channels; it can be employed for occupational health monitoring according to EN 481 as well, i.e. identification of inhalable, thoracic and alveolar mass fractions, down to nano particles.