Indoor and Outdoor Air Quality Monitoring in a Sydney Medical Research Center Using IoT and Toxicological Assessment

Indoor air quality (IAQ) is a critical factor in protecting health and supporting productivity in sensitive environments such as research centers. While IAQ in schools and offices has been widely studied, limited evidence is available for university-affiliated medical research facilities, particularly in the Australian context. This study reports on a four-week monitoring campaign conducted at a medical research institute in Sydney. A network of IoT-based Smart Citizen Kits was deployed across two functional floors, administrative offices (Floor 2) and PC2 laboratories (Floor 3), together with an outdoor reference node. Each unit recorded multiple environmental parameters including carbon dioxide (CO2), particulate matter (PM1, PM2.5, PM4, PM10), formaldehyde, temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, light, noise, and ultraviolet radiation. To ensure data reliability and explore the actual health impacts, IoT particulate measurements were benchmarked against a co-located toxicological particulate matter collector (JCH Environmental PM Sampler) capable of assessing total suspended particles and later tested for toxicology level. Preliminary analyses compare indoor and outdoor air quality and highlight differences between office and laboratory environments. Results show that while mean indoor concentrations largely remain within international guideline limits, short-term variations and room-specific differences are evident. These findings underline the importance of continuous IAQ monitoring in medical research centers and provide a foundation for strategies to maintain safe and healthy indoor environments.