UNDERSTANDING THE SOURCES OF AIR POLLUTION

We investigate the causes of air pollution for policymakers, researchers, and companies, enabling them to take targeted measures.

Our state-of-the-art particle characterization and differentiation approach allows us to identify and quantify a wide range of particles within PM80, PM10, PM2.5 and TSP, including those emitted by road and rail traffic (such as non-exhaust tire, brake, and road wear), quarries, gravel pits, mines, industrial activities, construction sites, and natural processes.

We can help you find a fast solution to your environmental questions with a cost-efficient, customized measurement concept.

SERVICES

Environmental Monitoring

Identification of PM Pollution Sources

Material & Surface Characterization

Sampling Devices

SOLUTIONS BY SECTOR

🏛️Public Environmental Offices

Particle Vision supports public authorities with high-resolution, source-specific analysis of airborne particles. Our services help clarify the origins of particulate pollution (PM80, PM10, PM2.5), enabling informed decisions in complex or sensitive contexts. Whether for compliance verification, conflict mitigation, or targeted emission reduction, we deliver actionable insights grounded in advanced morpho-chemical particle analysis, automated classification, and machine learning. Trusted by environmental agencies across Switzerland and beyond.

🚦Traffic Air Pollution Monitoring

Traffic is a major contributor to particulate emissions—yet traditional monitoring struggles to distinguish its specific sources, especially when it comes to non-exhaust emissions (NEE). We offer advanced characterization of particles from tire and brake wear, asphalt abrasion, and road dust resuspension. Our source-specific insights enable cities and regulators to assess real-world contributions of traffic-related emissions, evaluate mitigation measures, and support evidence-based urban air quality planning.

⛏️Quarrying & Mining

Attribution through detailed morpho-chemical analysis of airborne dust. Our data helps operators and regulators understand emission patterns, ensure compliance, reduce community conflicts, and design targeted dust mitigation strategies—based on real-world, site-specific measurements.

⚙️Engineering Offices

We support engineering and environmental consultancies with high-resolution data on particulate matter composition and sources. Whether for impact assessments, permitting support, or design of mitigation strategies, our analyses provide robust, source-specific evidence. With our expertise in particle forensics, we help turn complex air quality challenges into clear, actionable insights—backed by science and adapted to real-world settings.

🔬Material Analysis

We provide Startups, SMEs, industry players, and academic institutions with straightforward, results-driven material analyses using our state-of-the-art Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM/EDX), located in the heart of Fribourg.

KEY BENEFITS

Reliable

We deliver scientifically robust, traceable results you can trust—based on nearly a decade of peer-reviewed research and proven field applications.

Precise

Automated high-resolution characterization of thousands of particles enables source attribution and confident decision-making.

Fast

From sampling to actionable results in just a few weeks—thanks to our streamlined, automated analysis workflows.

Cost-effective

Optimized for your budget—targeted solutions minimize unnecessary expenses.

SOLUTIONS, BACKED BY EXTENSIVE RESEARCH

Read the latest research publications and peer-reviewed articles, written by or with contributions of our expert team-members

Review article on techniques to quantify tire wear particles (TWP/TRWP). This study was performed in collaboration with a team of scientists form Norway, Germany, Sweden and Australia (2023): "Analytical challenges and possibilities for the quantification of tire-road wear particles"
Scientific article on the quantification of non-exhaust particles along roads. The study was performed in collaboration with scientists of the university of Mississippi (2022): "On airborne tire wear particles along roads with different traffic characteristics using passive sampling and optical microscopy, single particle SEM/EDX, and µ-ATR-FTIR analyses"
Scientific article in collaboration with the VTI (Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute) and scientists of the university of Chalmers (Sweden) on the characterization and quantification of non-exhaust particles in a road environment in Sweden (2022): "Concentrations of tire wear microplastics and other traffic-derived non-exhaust particles in the road environment"
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CLIENT TESTIMONIALS

Hanspeter Lötscher, ANU Graubünden

The Office for Nature and Environment (ANU) Graubünden has been working successfully with Particle Vision on several projects since 2014. In addition to the chemical and morphological composition of coarse and fine dust, as well as microparticles, the source contributions of dust particles could also be quantitatively determined thanks to the knowledge and technical equipment of Particle Vision. This has made it possible for the ANU Graubünden to verify the implementation of various measures in wood-burning and industrial activities. But also, in the case of dust disturbances the ANU Graubünden has been supported by Particle Vision, and it was possible to determine the sources of the dust pollution and their contributions to the dust. We can unreservedly recommend the cooperation with Particle Vision.

Richard Ballaman, Head of the Air Quality Section at the Federal Office for the Environment FOEN

We greatly appreciated the ability of the Particle Vision team to develop analytical and statistical methods that allowed us to better characterize fine dusts, their components and their origins. These methods will also be very useful in the future for analysing dust resulting from the abrasion of various metallic or mineral materials.