Detecting pollen, pet dander and mold presence

This study was done to understand what was going on in the air at home, and out of this 8 months’ study, we came out we these results:

1. Pollen detection:

We detected pollen peaks that didn’t correspond to the pollen season in December and January. My first guess was some kind of flower arrangement or floor decoration at home, and it had been confirmed by our partner that during that time a family member passed away, so they had flower wreaths at home and this might have been the source of the pollen peaks we saw. 

2. Pet dander detection:

As the user has 3 cats at home, we saw repeatable peaks over the 8 months’ period, and that corresponds to the time where the cat’s litter box was used.

In the morning between 6 am and 8 am, where they used to clean the little box.

In the evenings between 6 pm and 9 pm, where they all watch TV together.

And in the evening between 12 am and 2 am. 

It was really interesting to see that the peaks that the sensor detected were actually when the cats interacted near to the sensor, and we did not see anything during the day where the pets were in another room.

3. Mold detection:

We had a very high peak in November, and then we realized that the user has a home located in the woods, and he spends the month of November sweeping the falling leaves, and these leaves usually are humid, they stay on the ground for a long time so they have mold growing in them, so when sweeping these falling left leaves, the mold will fly in the air and it can come in to the house through the normal ventilation system or simply through windows, as it can also be transported inside by the user himself coming in.

The levels of mold detection lowered by December and January, which means during winter season, and then in March, April and May the peak went up again due to mold season.