Air cleaning technology to be trialed at London bus stops, courtesy of The Body Shop and Airlabs

By Antonio Pasolini — Some lucky Londoners who happen to stand at a trio of central London bus stops will see the air around them change for the better. This is thanks to an initiative to install at said stops an air cleaning technology that removes harmful pollutants from the air, including nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter.

 

Called Airlabs, the system will be placed at three high profile and highly polluted central London locations. The project is a collaboration between The Body Shop with its media agency Maxus and Airlabs.

 

The Body Shop will incorporate the cleaning units into its brand advertising at the sites in New Oxford Street, Tottenham Court Road and High Holborn. It is claimed the system makes the air 95 percent cleaner, which is good news for those standing in those spots as London can get very congested and some spots in the center of the city exceed legal limits of NO2, as AirLabs research shows.

 

The system works by trapping harmful particles (PM2.5) via a filtration system before pollutants such as NO2 are absorbed, sparing people from the harmful exposure. Airlabs estimates the clean air provided could fill more than 80 buses every day.

 

“Currently, 3.8 million people, 44 percent of the city’s working population, work in parts of London which are above the legal limits for NO2. It is vital that more is done to address this issue, and it is our view that by working with the government and other key stakeholders a viable solution can be developed to provide better quality air for the city’s population. We believe this project will showcase the role our technology can play in reducing the levels of exposure the city’s population is being exposed to," said Sophie Power, Airlabs CEO and Co-Founder.

 

Image credit: The Body Shop