Abstract: Indoor air quality (IAQ) in household environments is mandatory since people spend most
of their time in indoor environments. In order to guarantee a healthy environment, air purification
devices are often employed. In the present work, a commercial household vacuum cleaner has been
tested in order to verify its eciency in reducing the mass concentration and particle number of
aerosol particulate matter (PM). The eciency has been tested measuring, while the instrument
was working, PM10 (particles with aerodynamic diameter less than 10 m), PM2.5 (particles with
aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 m), PM1 (particles with aerodynamic diameter less than 1 m),
and 7 size-fractions in the range between 0.3 and >10 m. Measurements have been carried out
by means of a portable optical particle counter instrument and simulating the working conditions
typical of a household environment. It has been found that the tested commercial device significantly
reduces both PM concentrations and particle number, especially in the finest fraction, i.e., particles in
the range 0.3\u20130.5 m, allowing an improvement of indoor air quality
