Evaluation of a new wearable device for indoor and outdoor environmental monitoring

High spatiotemporal resolution environmental monitoring is essential in sports, as increased minute ventilation during physical activity leads to greater inhaled dose of pollutants. This study aims at thoroughly comparing a commercially available environmental monitor with a newly developed wearable environmental monitor, both indoors and outdoors. The study consists in 20 data acquisition sessions of time series of carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration, fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentration, temperature (T), and relative humidity (RH), either in the morning or in the afternoon. Each session encompasses a 5-minute data acquisition indoor and 5-minute data acquisition outdoor. Analyses included linear regression, mean absolute error, mean percentage error, and Bland-Altman plots to evaluate the agreement between devices. Correlation was good and significant for CO2, T, and RH, with an r
²
between 0.63 and 0.90, while PM2.5 showed lower agreement and correlation (r
²
=0.37 indoor with p-value=0.007, not significant outdoor). Overall, the indoor results were positive, in contrast to the less satisfactory outcomes observed outdoors. Wearable environmental monitors are promising for personalized air quality insights, enabling individuals to mitigate health risks and plan outdoor activities to minimize exposure to air pollution, especially important with higher minute ventilation values. The comparison between devices for air pollution monitoring is, however, challenging. This study contributes to understanding the intricate interplay between various environmental monitoring devices, proposing an approach to assess the reliability of data acquisition and atmospheric monitoring using a newly developed wearable air pollution exposure monitor.