Real-time IoT-based air quality monitoring and health hazards indicator system for mines regions: a case study of Bulyanhulu gold mine

Abstract

Air quality in mining regions is a significant concern due to the potential release of pollutants from mining activities and associated processes. The proximity of mining operations to communities can have detrimental effects on the air quality and pose health risks to residents. Despite the well-known harmful effects of breathing in contaminated air, yet, this concern is commonly neglected due to a lack of information regarding air quality and levels of air quality. The study indicates that the concentration of pollutants such as PM2.5/PM10, CO, CO2, SO2, and NO2 can lead to developing chronic diseases such as respiratory issues, coughs, asthma, ischemic heart diseases, and cancer; due to inhaling hazardous air. This study proposes a real- time IoT-based air quality monitoring and health hazards indicator system for mining regions. The study implements a reliable and long-range (LoRa) wireless sensing system that collects real-time air quality data and updates it to the cloud. The developed real-time IoT-based air quality monitoring system for mines region is composed of numerous sensors (MQ7, MQ135, MQ136, MiCS4514, PMS7003, DHT22), Raspberry Pi, ATmega328 microcontroller, LoRa shields, and the ThingSpeak IoT server. The system collects air pollutants such as carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), particulate matter (PM2.5/PM10), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), temperature, and related humidity. The system is self-contained, using a solar charger shield to link a photovoltaic solar panel to a rechargeable battery for continuous operation. The smart sensing device constantly monitors air quality and uploads the results to a cloud via the coordinator node and the LoRa gateway shield, which in turn uploads the information to the ThingSpeak IoT server. The data collected are processed to calculate the Air Quality Index (AQI), which is then analyzed to generate early warnings and an indication of diseases and dangerous health hazards when exposed to such environments for a certain time. The results are displayed on a developed web-based dashboard that users can easily access and visualize the results. The system is very reliable as developed to simplify the monitoring process and provide accurate data on pollutant levels. The system helps environmental stakeholders in the air quality data aggregation, analysis, Air Quality Index (AQI) calculation, Reporting, and easy way of air quality data communication to the public as well as the indication of health hazards, allowing for informed decision-making, policy formulation, and mitigation strategies.