Purpose
General purpose of the device. Note that there are many models that combine several purposes at once: for example, a nitrate tester is often combined with a dosimeter or aquatester.
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Nitrate tester. Nitrate testers in the original sense of the word are devices designed to measure the level of nitrates (nitric acid salts) in various products. Initially, nitrates are an important component of mineral fertilizers, they serve as a building material for plants and are found in almost all living things. However, an excess of nitrates in food is harmful to the human body. Therefore, the ability to measure their concentration in a particular product is important for those who care about a healthy diet.
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Dosimeter. Instruments for measuring background radiation. In this case, the function of the dosimeter is rarely the only one, most often it is provided as an addition to the nitrate tester (see above). Nevertheless, such devices are quite capable of both determining the general radiation situation indoors or outdoors, and registering radiation from products and objects, detecting objects contaminated with radiation. You need to follow certain measurement rules for this; they are most often indicated in the instructions, in extreme cases, you can turn to special sources.
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Aquatester. Instruments for determining the overall quality of water. Th
...e main criterion for such an assessment is the level of mineralization — the amount of impurities dissolved in water. At the same time, more or less advanced aquatester checks not just the total amount of impurities, but the content of specific substances — hardness salts, organic compounds and heavy metal ions, and based on these three data, they derive a complex result. Of course, no device is perfectly accurate, but with the help of an aquatester, you can quite reliably separate potable water from unsuitable. In addition, such devices are indispensable for assessing the performance of filters — it is enough to measure the water indicators before and after filtration.
— Indicator of electromagnetic fields. Devices designed to detect electromagnetic fields and measure their intensity. Strong electromagnetic radiation adversely affects both various electronic devices and the human body. The sources of such fields can be not only external emitters (power lines, powerful radars), but also home devices — for example, a microwave with a shielding defect. EMF indicators allow you to identify adverse levels of electromagnetic pollution and take timely action.
— Salt concentration tester. Instruments for measuring the amount of table salt in various foods, mostly liquid. Salt is vital for the body, but its excessive amount leads to discomfort and even health problems; and for some diseases, low-salt diets are indicated. At the same time, it is not always possible to determine the salinity by taste: salt can be “disguised” by other ingredients, a raw product cannot always be tasted, etc. Thus, special devices are being produced that allow you to objectively measure the concentration of salt and control its intake.
— CO2 level meter. Devices designed to measure the concentration of carbon dioxide in the air. The most well-known sign of increased CO2 concentration is that the room becomes stuffy. However, according to sensations, it is not always possible to objectively assess this moment — for example, even a freshly ventilated room with a minimum level of carbon dioxide may seem stuffy in the heat, and in the cold, on the contrary, the feeling of stuffiness is dulled. At the same time, an increased content of CO2 leads to various troubles — from headaches and deterioration in concentration to health problems. Therefore, to maintain an optimal microclimate, it is desirable to control the amount of carbon dioxide, for which special devices are produced.Range of background radiation level
The range of radiation background measurements provided by the device with the dosimeter function (see "Purpose") in microsieverts/hour (µSv/h).
Microsievert (derived from sievert) is a unit of measurement of the radiation dose absorbed by the human body. Technically, this unit is similar to the micro-roentgen (see below) — both of them describe the amount of radiation received in fact; some units can even be converted to others, 1 micro-roentgen/hour corresponds to 0.01 µSv/h. However, nowadays, speaking about the direct effects of radiation on the human body, they prefer to use microsieverts.
Natural background radiation averages from 0.08 to 0.2 µSv/h. A safe threshold for human, depending on sanitary standards in different countries, is most often considered to be about 0.3 – 0.4 μSv/h. At the same time, note that household dosimeters give a rather significant error, and if the measurement result is at the threshold level, this does not mean that the background is dangerous. Nevertheless, in such cases, it is worth contacting a health station or other similar structure to check the situation with a professional dosimeter — especially when it comes to the place of permanent residence of people.
