Air Quality Monitoring and Alert System

Abstract

Air pollution is a pressing environmental challenge with significant implications for public health and ecosystems. Air quality monitoring system presents a cost-effective air quality monitoring advantage using Arduino Uno and MQ-135 gas sensor. The system is designed to detect and measure the concentration of harmful gases, including CO2, NH3, benzene, and smoke, in real-time. Data is displayed on an I2C-compatible LCD screen, offering various air quality levels. When pollution levels exceed a predefined threshold, the system activates an alert mechanism using a buzzer to indicate hazardous conditions. The proposed system is versatile and can be deployed in various settings, including homes, schools, and offices, providing a practical solution for environmental monitoring. Future enhancements include the integration of wireless communication modules such as ESP8266 to enable remote monitoring through mobile applications or web platforms. This project underscores the importance of air quality awareness and offers a scalable, user-friendly tool for promoting environmental sustainability and healthier living standards.

Introduction

The Air Quality Monitoring and Alert System is a low-cost, real-time solution designed to measure air pollution levels and notify users when they become hazardous. It utilizes the MQ-135 gas sensor to detect pollutants and an Arduino microcontroller to process data, display air quality readings on an LCD, and trigger alerts via a buzzer when pollution exceeds safe limits.

This system addresses the global health risks posed by air pollution, especially in urban and industrial areas, by providing affordable, accessible monitoring suitable for both indoor and outdoor environments. The project integrates hardware components such as the Arduino Uno, MQ-135 sensor, LCD display with I2C module, buzzer, resistors, LEDs, breadboard, and jumper wires, programmed via the Arduino IDE.

Applications include monitoring air quality in homes, offices, factories, smart cities, and research settings. The MQ-135 sensor detects gases like ammonia, CO?, alcohol, benzene, and smoke. The system’s stepwise methodology covers hardware connections and software programming to display pollutant levels and sound alarms for unsafe air quality, promoting health and safety through timely alerts.

Conclusion

The Air Quality Monitoring and Alert System utilizing Arduino and the MQ-135 sensor offers a reliable and economical approach to real-time air quality analysis. This device is adaptable for both personal and industrial purposes, empowering individuals and organizations to monitor environmental conditions and make informed decisions. Future advancements could include the integration of IoT-enabled devices for remote monitoring and real-time data logging, further enhancing the system\'s capabilities and user interaction.

References

[1] Kumar & Saha, S. K. (2020). “Air quality monitoring and management: Challenges and opportunities.” Environmental Pollution. This paper discusses various air quality monitoring systems, their design, and the challenges faced in implementing efficient air quality management. It includes technical insights on sensors, data collection, and the integration of these devices in urban and industrial areas. [2] Kalagotla Chenchireddy, D Sandhya, M Praveen, G Karthik & G maruthi (2021). “Air Quality Monitoring and Alert System Using MQ135 Gas Sensor with Arduino Controller. This paper discuss about gas sensors and their features, gives a brief information about Arduino board. And a potential circuit diagram of Air Quality monitoring system using MQ135 gas sensor with Arduino controller. [3] Deepshikha, Vikram, Ganesh, Deva Kalyan. “Real Time Air Quality Monitoring System”. This report work focus on the development of a low-cost device for real-time monitoring of air pollutants such as particulate matter (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and carbon dioxide (CO2).

Copyright

Copyright © 2025 Sancharika Banerjee, Sukanta Seni, Dr. Suparna Ballav. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.