Pollution Detector In Your Pocket

A revolutionary gadget has been designed to provide real-time feedback on your surrounding smog.

10:59 05 February 2016

The level of air pollution across the globe is now considered a public health emergency by the World Health Organisation. It said that air pollution has become "one of the biggest problems we are facing globally, with horrible future costs to society."

 

An app was developed by CleanSpace initiative to help individuals obtain a real-time feedback so they’ll know just how bad the pollution in their surroundings.

 

The £75 CleanSpace tag is about the size of an iPhone 6 and works as a personal pollution sensor. It operates in connection with a CleanSpace smartphone app that connects to the device using Bluetooth.

 

Users earn “CleanMiles” when they walk or use a bike rather than taking the tube. These miles can be exchanged for different rewards that range from a free coffee to a discounted magazine subscription or a money-off voucher for various websites.

 

Lord Paul Drayson, who spearheaded the UK-wide movement towards cleaner air, said: “What I learned from politics is you have to persuade people what they’re moving to is better, rather than scaring them,”

 

“The first step is to fully recognise the scale of the problem through better data and knowledge.”