Hired Smoke Monitor Features on BBC News

A personal aerosol monitor hired from Ashtead Technology Rentals to monitor the effects of the English Smokefree legislation featured on BBC1’s Breakfast programme on Monday 31 December, 2007 – the day before the six-month anniversary of smokefree England.
The news item included a feature on ‘Monitoring for Compliance’, a collaborative project overseen by the Tobacco Control Collaborating Centre (TCCC) and funded by Cancer Research UK. The group carried out air quality assessments around July 1 when the Smokefree legislation
came into force with help froma TSI SIDEPAK AM510 Personal Aerosol Monitor. The TCCC was tasked with monitoring a variety of hospitality and leisure outlets across the country, including pubs, bingo halls and betting shops one month before and one month after the legislation had
been implemented.
The measurements carried out in the project showed that average PM2.5 levels were reduced from 217 microgram/m3 in June to 11 microgram/m3 in August; a significant reduction of 206 microgram/m3 or 95%.
Nina Gotz, a research associate from the TCCC, says “The instrument from Ashtead Technology Rentals played a key role in the study and helped us monitor air quality in more than 40 locations in total. We were approached by the BBC to take part in a news itemtomark the six-month anniversary of smokefree Enlgand, and we were more than happy to oblige.”
The SIDEPAK monitor's easy-to-read display shows data in both real-time aerosol mass concentration and 8-hour time-weighted average. With its convenient data logging and long battery life, the monitor is also ideal for extended sampling.
Ashtead’s fleet of instruments for health and safety assessments include toxic gas detectors, dust monitors, HVAC monitors, and instruments for the measurement of noise and vibration. These instruments come from world leading manufacturers such as RAE Systems, BW Technologies, TSI Instruments, Thermo, Quest and Casella.
Ashtead Technology Rentals’ General Manager James Carlyle added, “This is a good example demonstrating the advantages of hire over purchase. The equipment is always delivered fully-calibrated and clients are given a concise run-through on how to use the instrument to its maximum capacity.”