Design of a Miniaturized Wearable Respirable Dust Monitor (WEARDM) for Underground Coal Mines

This paper presents the designs of an air-microfluidic miniaturized wearable respirable dust monitor (WEARDM) which is designed to monitor the exposure to ISO respirable mass fraction (PM
₄
) of coal and silica dust in underground coal mines. The device is an order of magnitude smaller and less expensive than comparable devices, and uses the principles of air-microfluidics to gravimetrically and in real-time monitor the exposure to PM
₄
by the miners, and can be used to increase the safety of the mining operations worldwide.