Tools & Techniques for Better Exposure Assessment
Our group makes measurements to estimate exposure and, in doing so, inform policies, evaluate interventions, and help provide evidence of potential health risk. Where instrumentation is lacking, we develop our own or adapt technologies used in other sectors and disciplines. This includes the development of novel sensor systems catered to settings where solid fuel use is prevalent, including particulate monitors suitable for placement in a kitchen or use as a personal monitor; stove use monitors, data-logging sensors that track household appliance usage, for instance by measuring temperature on a stove; and systems that measure ventilation using CO2 as a tracer gas. We additionally use lower-cost air pollution sensors, similar to the Purple Air monitor, with a focus on rural ambient air quality monitoring in places where outdoor air pollution measurements are scarce.
Projects
AAM-LASSI (active)
AERLIFT (active)
SHRAM (active)
Rapid Surveys (inactive)
Publications
2026
Campbell, D., Johnson, M., Piedrahita, R., Pillarisetti, A., Waller, L. A., Kearns, K. A., Kremer, J., Mollinedo, E., Sarnat, J. A., Clark, M. L., Underhill, L. J., McCracken, J. P., Diaz-Artiga, A., Thompson, L. M., Rosa, G., Kirby, M., Balakrishnan, K., Sambandam, S., Mukhopadhyay, K., et al. (2026). Comparison of black carbon measurements using filter-specific reference transmittance to those using lab blanks or an average of unloaded filters. Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association, 76(9), 724–736. https://doi.org/10.1080/10962247.2026.2626414
Ma, X., Layvant, M., Miguel, E., Ochieng, E., Pillarisetti, A., & Walker, M. (2026). Impacts of contemporaneous air pollution exposure on cognitive performance in Kenya. Journal of Health Economics, 109, 103166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2026.103166
Mollinedo, E., Kearns, K. A., Russell, A. G., Johnson, M., L’Orange, C., Piedrahita, R., Pillarisetti, A., Sarnat, J. A., McCracken, J. P., Thompson, L. M., Diaz-Artiga, A., Clark, M. L., Steenland, K., Waller, L. A., Clasen, T. F., Peel, J., Checkley, W., Naeher, L. P., et al. (2026). Source apportionment of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) personal exposures: findings from the Household Air Pollution Intervention Network (HAPIN) study in rural Guatemala. Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41370-026-00910-6
Johnson, M., Kearns, K. A., Rivera, J., Jones, S. M., Tryner, J., Miller, H., Ghosh, A., Aragon, M. F., Daouda, M., Pillarisetti, A., & Tyner, T. (2026). Characterizing household air pollutant concentrations associated with an electrification program in the rural San Joaquin Valley. Environmental Research: Health, 4(2), 25002. https://doi.org/10.1088/2752-5309/ae4ac9
2025
Ndikubwimana, A., Checkley, W., Chen, Y., Clasen, T., Contreras, C. L., Diaz-Artiga, A., Bankundiye, G., Dusabimana, E., de las Fuentes, L., Jabbarzadeh, S., Johnson, M., Kalisa, E., Karakwende, P., Kirby, M. A., Lovvorn, A. E., McCracken, J. P., Ndagijimana, F., Ntakirutimana, T., de Dieu Ntivuguruzwa, J., et al. (2025). Baseline exposure–response assessment of metals from dried blood spots and personal household air pollution concentrations among pregnant women in Rwanda: household air pollution intervention network trial. Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition, 45(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41043-025-01178-6
Steenland, K., Pillarisetti, A., Johnson, M., Rosenthal, J., Balakrishnan, K., Underhill, L., Thompson, L., McCracken, J., Waller, L., Nicolaou, L., Clark, M., Checkley, W., Peel, J., & Clasen, T. (2025). Optimizing Exposure Measures in Large-Scale Household Air Pollution Studies: Results from the Multicountry HAPIN Trial. In Environmental Science & Technology (Vol. 59, Issue 3, pp. 1693–1699). American Chemical Society (ACS). https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.4c08052
2024
Deng, Y., Steenland, K., Sinharoy, S. S., Peel, J. L., Ye, W., Pillarisetti, A., Eick, S. M., Chang, H. H., Wang, J., Chen, Y., Young, B. N., Clark, M. L., Barr, D. B., & Clasen, T. F. (2024). Association of household air pollution exposure and anemia among pregnant women: Analysis of baseline data from ’Household Air Pollution Intervention Network (HAPIN)’ trial. In Environment International (p. 108815). Elsevier BV. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2024.108815
Campbell, D. A., Johnson, M., Piedrahita, R., Pillarisetti, A., Waller, L. A., Kearns, K. A., Kremer, J., Mollinedo, E., Sarnat, J. A., Clark, M. L., Underhill, L. J., McCracken, J. P., Diaz-Artiga, A., Steenland, K., Rosa, G., Kirby, M. A., Balakrishnan, K., Sambandam, S., Mukhopadhyay, K., … Naeher, L. P. (2024). Factors Determining Black Carbon Exposures among Pregnant Women Enrolled in the HAPIN Trial. In Environmental Science & Technology. American Chemical Society (ACS). https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.3c09991
Lai, P. S., Lam, N. L., Gallery, B., Lee, A. G., Adair-Rohani, H., Alexander, D., Balakrishnan, K., Bisaga, I., Chafe, Z. A., Clasen, T., Díaz-Artiga, A., Grieshop, A., Harrison, K., Hartinger, S. M., Jack, D., Kaali, S., Lydston, M., Mortimer, K. M., Nicolaou, L.,… Pillarisetti, A., … Ozoh, O. B. (2024). Household Air Pollution Interventions to Improve Health in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: An Official American Thoracic Society Research Statement. In American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (Vol. 209, Issue 8, pp. 909–927). American Thoracic Society. https://doi.org/10.1164/rccm.202402-0398st
McCollum, E. D., McCracken, J. P., Kirby, M. A., Grajeda, L. M., Hossen, S., Moulton, L. H., Simkovich, S. M., Goodman-Palmer, D., Rosa, G., Mukeshimana, A., Balakrishnan, K., Thangavel, G., Garg, S. S., Castañaza, A., Thompson, L. M., Diaz-Artiga, A., Papageorghiou, A. T., Davila-Roman, V. G., Underhill, L. J., Pillarisetti, A., … Checkley, W. (2024). Liquefied Petroleum Gas or Biomass Cooking and Severe Infant Pneumonia. In New England Journal of Medicine (Vol. 390, Issue 1, pp. 32–43). Massachusetts Medical Society. https://doi.org/10.1056/nejmoa2305681
Checkley, W., Thompson, L. M., Sinharoy, S. S., Hossen, S., Moulton, L. H., Chang, H. H., Waller, L., Steenland, K., Rosa, G., Mukeshimana, A., Ndagijimana, F., McCracken, J. P., Díaz-Artiga, A., Balakrishnan, K., Garg, S. S., Thangavel, G., Aravindalochanan, V., Hartinger, S. M., Chiang, M., … Pillarisetti, A., … Clasen, T. F. (2024). Effects of Cooking with Liquefied Petroleum Gas or Biomass on Stunting in Infants. In New England Journal of Medicine (Vol. 390, Issue 1, pp. 44–54). Massachusetts Medical Society. https://doi.org/10.1056/nejmoa2302687
2023
Campmier, M. J., Gingrich, J., Singh, S., Baig, N., Gani, S., Upadhya, A., Agrawal, P., Kushwaha, M., Mishra, H. R., Pillarisetti, A., Vakacherla, S., Pathak, R. K., & Apte, J. S. (2023). Seasonally optimized calibrations improve low-cost sensor performance: long-term field evaluation of PurpleAir sensors in urban and rural India. In Atmospheric Measurement Techniques (Vol. 16, Issue 19, pp. 4357–4374). Copernicus GmbH. https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4357-2023
Hasan, M. H., Yu, H., Ivey, C., Pillarisetti, A., Yuan, Z., Do, K., & Li, Y. (2023). Unexpected Performance Improvements of Nitrogen Dioxide and Ozone Sensors by Including Carbon Monoxide Sensor Signal. In ACS Omega. American Chemical Society (ACS). https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.2c07734
Gould, C. F.*, Pillarisetti, A.*, Thompson, L. M., Saluja, S., Nandan, V., & Urpelainen, J. (2023). Using high-frequency household surveys to describe energy use in rural North India during the COVID-19 pandemic. In Nature Energy. Springer Science and Business Media LLC. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-022-01187-3 *equal contributors.
2022
Rajamani, K. D., Sambandam, S., Mukhopadhyay, K., Puttaswamy, N., Thangavel, G., Natesan, D., Ramasamy, R., Sendhil, S., Natarajan, A., Aravindalochan, V., Pillarisetti, A., Johnson, M., Rosenthal, J., Steenland, K., Piedhrahita, R., Peel, J., Clark, M. L., Boyd Barr, D., Rajkumar, S., … Balakrishnan, K. (2022). Visualizing Field Data Collection Procedures of Exposure and Biomarker Assessments for the Household Air Pollution Intervention Network Trial in India. In Journal of Visualized Experiments (Issue 190). MyJove Corporation. https://doi.org/10.3791/64144
Pillarisetti, A., Alnes, L. W. H., Ye, W., McCracken, J. P., Canuz, E., & Smith, K. R. (2022). Repeated assessment of PM2.5 in Guatemalan kitchens cooking with wood: Implications for measurement strategies. In Atmospheric Environment (p. 119533). Elsevier BV. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2022.119533
Lu W., Wang L.A., Mann J., Jenny A., Romero C., Kuster A., Canuz E., Pillarisetti A., Smith K.R., Balmes J., Thompson L. (2022). Biomass Smoke Exposure and Atopy among Young Children in the Western Highlands of Guatemala: A Prospective Cohort Study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2022; 19(21):14064. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192114064
Clasen, T. F., Chang, H. H., Thompson, L. M., Kirby, M. A., Balakrishnan, K., Díaz-Artiga, A., McCracken, J. P., Rosa, G., Steenland, K., Younger, A., Aravindalochanan, V., Barr, D. B., Castañaza, A., Chen, Y., Chiang, M., Clark, M. L., Garg, S., Hartinger, S., Jabbarzadeh, S., Pillarisetti, A., … Peel, J. L. (2022). Liquefied Petroleum Gas or Biomass for Cooking and Effects on Birth Weight. In New England Journal of Medicine. Massachusetts Medical Society. https://doi.org/10.1056/nejmoa2206734
Pillarisetti, A., Ye, W., & Chowdhury, S. (2022). Indoor Air Pollution and Health: Bridging Perspectives from Developing and Developed Countries. In Annual Review of Environment and Resources (Vol. 47, Issue 1, pp. 197–229). Annual Reviews. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-environ-012220-010602
Johnson, M., Pillarisetti, A., Piedrahita, R., Balakrishnan, K., Peel, J. L., Steenland, K., Underhill, L. J., Rosa, G., Kirby, M. A., Díaz-Artiga, A., McCracken, J., Clark, M. L., Waller, L., Chang, H. H., Wang, J., Dusabimana, E., Ndagijimana, F., Sambandam, S., … Mukhopadhyay, K. (2022). Exposure Contrasts of Pregnant Women during the Household Air Pollution Intervention Network Randomized Controlled Trial. In Environmental Health Perspectives (Vol. 130, Issue 9). Environmental Health Perspectives. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp10295
2021
Puttaswamy, N., Sreekanth, V., Pillarisetti, A., Upadhya, A.R., Saidam, S., Veerappan, B., Mukhopadhyay, K., Sambandam, S., Sutaria, R., Balakrishnan, K. (2022). Indoor and Ambient Air Pollution in Chennai, India during COVID-19 Lockdown: An Affordable Sensors Study. Aerosol Air Qual. Res. 22, 210170. https://doi.org/10.4209/aaqr.210170
Li Y, Yuan Z, Anthony Chen L-W, Pillarisetti A, Yadav V, Wu M, Cui H, Zhao C. (2021). From Air Quality Sensors to Sensor Networks: Things We Need to Learn. Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical. doi.org/10.1016/j.snb.2021.130958
Johnson, M., Piedrahita, R., Pillarisetti, A., Shupler, M., Menya, D., Rossanese, M., Delapeña, S., Penumetcha, N., Chartier, R., Puzzolo, E. and Pope, D. (2021), Modeling approaches and performance for estimating personal exposure to household air pollution: A case study in Kenya. Indoor Air. https://doi.org/10.1111/ina.12790
2020
Carrión D, Prah R, Gould C, Agbokey F, Mujtaba M, Pillarisetti A, Tumasi M, Agyei O, Chillrud S, Tawiah T, Jack D, Asante K. Using longitudinal survey and sensor data to understand the social and ecological determinants of clean fuels use and discontinuance in rural Ghana. Environmental Research Communications. 2020/10; 2(9):095003. doi: 10.1088/2515-7620/abb831
Burrowes VJ, Piedrahita R, Pillarisetti A, Underhill L, Fandiño‐Del‐Rio M, Johnson M, Kephart J, Hartinger SM, Steenland K, Naeher L, Kearns K, Peel JL, Clark ML, Checkley W and HAPIN Investigators (2020), Comparison of next‐generation portable pollution monitors to measure exposure to PM2.5 from household air pollution in Puno, Peru. Indoor Air.
2019
Liao J, McCracken JP, Piedrahita R, Thompson L, Mollinedo E, Canuz E, De Leon O, Díaz-Artiga A, Johnson M, Clark M, Pillarisetti A, Kearns K, Naeher L, Steenland K, Checkley W, Peel J, Clasen TF et al. (2019) The use of bluetooth low energy Beacon systems to estimate indirect personal exposure to household air pollution. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol (2019) doi:10.1038/s41370-019-0172-z
2018
Pillarisetti A*, Carter E, Rajkumar S, Young BN, Benka-Coker M, Peel J, Johnson M, Clark M. 2019. Measuring personal exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) among rural Honduran women: a field evaluation of the Ultrasonic Personal Aerosol Sampler (UPAS). Environment International 123: 50-53. doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2018.11.014
Pillarisetti A*, Gill M, Allen T, Madhavan S, Dhongade A, Ghorpade M, Roy S, Balakrishnan K, Juvekar S, Smith KR. 2019. The Pink Key: a low-cost stove use monitor to enable conditional cash transfers. Ecohealth 15 (4) : 768-776. doi.org/10.1007/s10393-018-1379-5
2017
Pillarisetti A*, Allen T, Ruiz-Mercado I, Edwards R, Chowdhury Z, Garland C, et al. 2017. Small, Smart, Fast, and Cheap: Microchip-Based Sensors to Estimate Air Pollution Exposures in Rural Households. Sensors. doi.org/10.3390/s17081879
2016
Gautam S, Edwards R, Yadav A, Weltman R, Pillarisetti A, Arora NK, Smith KR. 2016. Probe-based measurements of moisture in dung fuel for emissions measurements. Energy for Sustainable Development. doi: 10.1016/j.esd.2016.09.003
Lozier MJ, Sircar K, Christensen B, Pillarisetti A, Pennise D, Bruce N, Stanistreet D, Naeher L, Pilishvili T, Farrar JL, Sage M, Nyagol R, Muoki J, Wochuck T, Yip F. 2016. Use of temperature sensors to determine exclusivity of improved stove use and associated household air pollution reductions — Kenya, 2012-2013. Environmental Science & Technology. doi:10.1021/acs.est.5b06141.
2014
Pillarisetti, A.; Vaswani, M.; Jack, D.; Balakrishnan, K.; Bates, M. N.; Arora, N. K.; Smith, K. R. Patterns of Stove Usage after Introduction of an Advanced Cookstove: The Long-Term Application of Household Sensors. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2014, 48, 14525-14533.
Holstius, D. M., Pillarisetti, A., Smith, K. R., and Seto, E. Field calibrations of a low-cost aerosol sensor at a regulatory monitoring site in California, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 7, 1121-1131, doi:10.5194/amt-7-1121-2014, 2014.