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Workshop air quality

For a woodworking workshop, it’s a multi-pronged approach:

Dust collection

Dust extractors (shop vacs) should be used to capture most of the woodworking dust by attaching them to power tools.

Dust extractors come with L/M/H ratings. For working with wood, an M rating is sufficient, e.g. Bosch GAS 35 M AFC (AFC stands for automatic filter cleaning).

A cyclone dust separator, such as Dust Deputy from Oneida Air, is a plastic tool that sorts larger debris (e.g. sawdust) into a separate container before it reaches the dust extractor.

There are also larger, more elaborate dust collection setups, such as these.

Air filtration

Air filters are secondary measures for air quality that scrub the air of any airbone particles that escape the dust extractor.

Personal protection

For woodworking, FFP2/N95 is the minimum rating for masks, but FFP3/P100 offer better protection.

Air quality measurement

Sensirion SPS30 evaluation kit is a good sensor that measures levels of PM1.0, PM2.5, PM4 and PM10. The Ikea Vindstyrka air quality monitor uses a similar SEN54 sensor, but only exposes a single PM2.5 value.

A probably more expensive instrument is Dustlight.