Adriene is an environmental technician at Martha Mine. Once a week she collects the filters from several Air Monitors that are located around Waihi and also at the neighbouring towns of Paeroa and Katikati. Air monitors are mostly positioned high on power poles or raised areas. They have a motor that sucks in air rather like a vacuum cleaner. The air passes through a filter, which traps dust. The volume of air that passes through the monitor is measured automatically.
In this photograph Adriene is about to replace the filter. The used filter will be weighed and analysed to determine the amount of dust. The measurement is expressed in micrograms per cubic metre per week (µg/m/7days)