Wearable PM Monitoring Update 2026: Ten Changes for Safety Teams

09.09.2026

Conventional particulate matter (PM) sampling methods provide an average exposure value, and combined with laboratory analysis they can determine how much of the collected respirable dust consists of a specific substance. What a gravimetric result cannot show is how that exposure developed over time.  The same average can result from continuous exposure, several short peaks or one extreme event. It also represents only the one person or point where the sampler sat, rather than the whole workplace.

Wearable PM Monitoring with Dustlight fills this gap before, during, and after a gravimetric measurement campaign. The September 2026 update expands it to ten locations.

STEL and TWA on the Dustlight display

The worker sees the shift average on the device itself, not at the end of the week in a report. With firmware 3.6.0, the running  short-term value and the running time-weighted average appear on the display alongside the live reading. Both are interim figures: the definitive shift average exists only once the assessment period has ended, and a rolling 15-minute value indicates a short-term development rather than replacing a binding short-term exposure limit.

Why is this important? The shift average existed only for whoever evaluated the results afterwards, almost never the person wearing the device. Workers saw instantaneous readings they could not relate to an exposure limit and had no basis for reacting during the shift. In this way the figure assessed against the limit reaches the person who can still influence it, while there is time to reposition an extraction hose or step back from the source.

Important: if you want to view history, trends, exceedance documentation and reporting, use the software license “Business” available in Dustlight mobile and web apps.

You already have Dustlight but don’t use the app to its full potential? Try advanced functions for free! Get a 14-day trial.

Bring Dustlight closer to your work environment

Dustlight complements gravimetric sampling rather than replacing it. The laboratory provides the reference concentration and, when analyzed, the percentage of a specific substance such as  crystalline silica. Wearable PM monitoring with Dustlight provides the real-time exposure pattern. With the September update, both can be combined: the gravimetric result is used to calculate a customer-specific correction factor, while the laboratory-determined material share can also be entered into the material configuration. In this way a common objection in technical evaluations, that the device is not calibrated for the material in use, is answered with laboratory results the customer already holds. This brings Dustlight closer to the actual material, process and exposure situation.

Why is this important? The gravimetric measurement remains the reference method for compliance assessment. Combined with laboratory analysis, it provides an average exposure value and can determine how much of the collected respirable dust consists of a specific substance, such as crystalline silica. A gravimetric result gives one average value for the measurement period, but it does not show how that exposure developed over time. The same average can result from continuous exposure, several short peaks or one extreme event. It also represents only one person or measurement point where the sampler was located, rather than the exposure situation across the whole workplace.

Important: Dustlight measures respirable dust optically but cannot directly identify whether individual particles are silica or another specific substance. Laboratory analysis is therefore still required to determine the actual substance composition. Dustlight also does not replace gravimetric sampling as the reference method for regulatory compliance assessment.

Would you like to know how Dustlight makes this possible? Read the article about our measurement principle.

Dustlight now displays the PM2.5-based Wildfire AQI

Dustlight classifies the PM2.5 concentration in the outdoor air directly at the worksite using the Wildfire AQI scale. The regional scale can be selected to suit the area of operation.

Why is this important? When smoke from wildfires is present, employers must decide whether and under what conditions work can continue outdoors. However, regional monitoring stations can only provide a limited picture of the actual pollution levels at a specific worksite. In California, Title 8, Section 5141.1 requires employers to implement protective measures as soon as theAQI for PM2.5 reaches 151. Respiratory protection is mandatory when the AQI reaches 500 or higher. With Dustlight, the relevant PM2.5-based index can be measured directly at the worksite, rather than being derived solely from data at a remote monitoring station.

Important: The Wildfire AQI is used to classifyPM2.5 levels in outdoor airand isnot an occupational exposure limit. With this update, the index values will initially be displayed directly on the Dustlight screen. Analysis within the software will follow in a future release.

Docking station: charge and read data from up to 6 Dustlights at the same time

Charge six devices at the same time, read them out over USB and keep your fleet in one place. Wall-mountable, daisy-chainable. Made in Germany.

Why is this important? Data transfer previously ran exclusively wirelessly, through a phone, so where private phones are not wanted or not permitted there was no route for the data at all. In this way end-of-shift readout becomes a fleet routine at one station rather than device-by-device handling.

How can PM monitoring work on sites where phones are not permitted?

Private phones are prohibited in many production areas, and in defense work a wireless recording device may be excluded altogether. A cable route removes the phone from the data path. In USB-only mode the records never touch a wireless link. Where the recording itself is the objection, the device can run purely as a real-time warning monitor.

Dustlight can be used as a stationary PM monitor when needed

Area monitoring becomes possible with the devices a site already owns. As long as the device is connected to power, it measures continuously, and the stationary mode engages automatically with no setting to change.

Why is this important? A foundry safety team assessing the shakeout bay, rather than each individual respirable dust exposure, can leave a device in its dock and let it run. That answers a different question: whether the extraction over the bay is holding. It arrives without a necessity to buy a stationary monitor, and the point where devices charge overnight doubles as the measuring point. A breathing zone measurement, within 20 to 30 centimeters of the nose and mouth as HSG173 defines it, still describes the individual.

Important: a stationary reading is not a substitute for personal sampling. Exposure limits are defined against what a worker breathes, not room concentration.

Dustlight now supports 14 languages

This release adds 8 more languages in the app and on the monitor itself. Interface, readings and warnings follow the language that has been set.

Languages available in Dustlight

• Deutsch
• English
• Spanish
• French
• Italian
• Portuguese (Brazil)
• Dutch
• Danish
• Norwegian
• Swedish
• Finnish
• Polish
• Czech
• Turkish

Why is this important? On a demolition site where the concrete-cutting crew speaks Polish and Romanian, induction and daily use happen in each worker’s own language, which speeds up setup on site and increases acceptance within the team. What matters most is that the language reaches the device: a warning nobody can read is a warning nobody acts on.

Customize Dustlight to meet your needs

Beyond the presets, users can set up their own Custom operation mode and fine-tune it themselves: display brightness and measurement interval, and with that, battery lifetime. Every setting is explained and visualized.

Why is this important?

• • A battery estimate for every setting: whichever combination is chosen, the expected battery lifetime is shown alongside it. No looking things up in a table, no trial and error across a whole shift.
• Measuring every second and a full working day are not mutually exclusive: even measuring every second, up to roughly 13 hours of runtime are achievable.
• Fit for the job instead of a compromise: short intervals for detailed analysis, longer ones for continuous monitoring, each with the runtime that comes with it.

Disable local data storage

Dustlight can be used in locations where measurement data must not be stored on the device. The storage of measurement values can bepermanently disabled. The device continues to measure and issue alerts in real time, but does not record exposure history on the device.

Why is this important? Some companies want to use Dustlight exclusively as a warning monitor, without storing any personal or workplace-related dust data. No Storage Mode allows for exactly that: Real-time alerts are maintained, while no measurement history is recorded on the device.

Important: Without data storage, no load history will be available for later analysis. In this case, documentation requirements must be met by other means.

Firmware 3.6.0

Devices already in the field gain capability without any hardware being touched. The update is distributed over the air through the app and takes up to ten minutes per device.

Why is this important? Existing fleets would otherwise need hardware changes to gain new functions. In this way the installed base grows in capability at no additional cost, and the whole fleet stays on one firmware version.

Dustlight provides context before, during, and after the gravimetric measurement

Dustlight monitors the entire measurement process.

• Before performing a gravimetric measurement, it can help identify where exposure is highest and where a reference measurement is most useful.
• During the measurement, the parallel Dustlight measurement provides the data needed to derive the correction factor.
• Afterwards, Dustlight can continue monitoring the process between gravimetric measurements and show whether exposure conditions change over time.

From one average to the full exposure pattern

A gravimetric measurement may report the same shift average for completely different exposure scenarios. Dustlight shows when the exposure actually occurred and whether the average was caused by continuous exposure, repeated peaks or one major event. This makes it easier to identify the task or incident responsible for the exposure.

From one measurement point to individual exposure

Dust exposure can vary significantly even among people working in the same area. An operator, an assistant and another worker several meters away may experience very different concentrations depending on distance, airflow and where the dust travels. Measuring several workers or locations with Dustlight therefore provides a much fuller picture of workplace exposure than a single gravimetric measurement point.

FAQ