IoT-based air pollution monitoring system: A case study in Artisanal Brick Kilns

The rapid growth of industrial activities has led to a significant increase in environmental pollution. Exposure to these air pollutants negatively impacts health, quality of life, and contributes to climate change. It is essential to develop accessible and low-cost mechanisms for controlling polluting emissions. This study presents an IoT-based air pollution monitoring system implemented in an artisanal brick kiln, where manual processes and the use of fossil fuels generate emissions that can severely affect nearby communities, particularly due to the high concentration of fine particulate matter such as PM2.5, known to cause respiratory and cardiovascular problems. The system uses the SPS30 sensor to measure PM2.5 and PM10, connected to an ESP32 microcontroller, which transmits data using the MQTT protocol to the AWS IoT Core service, where they are processed and visualized in real time through a web application. During its validation, the system demonstrated high accuracy, obtaining a correlation of r = 0.95 for PM2.5 and r = 0.99 for PM10 compared to an official monitoring station. The experiment at the artisanal brick kiln confirmed that on 100% of the days monitored, PM2.5 concentrations exceeded the limit of 75 µg/m³, while PM10 exceeded 150 µg/m³ on 30% of the days evaluated. The system generates automatic alerts for excessive pollutants, facilitating a timely response and the implementation of corrective measures when pollution levels reach critical levels. The proposal presents a scalable and low-cost solution to improve environmental management across various industrial sectors.