This new device will allow children to breathe in cleaner air in polluted urban environments

A startup in London has launched its Kickstarter campaign today (September 18) and is seeking £105k investment to launch its portable air sensor and filter.

Brizi has been created to provide cleaner air for babies and young children in prams and car seats and to protect them from pollution in urban environments. There have been predictions of 6.6m premature deaths by 2050 due to this hazard.

Brizi’s first product, Brizi Baby, is an active fan filter and portable sensor that cleans the air in a child’s breathing area when high pollution levels are detected. Its dual fan filter delivers 1.5 litres of clean, filtered air every 10 seconds which forms a ‘barrier’, reducing their exposure to the airborne pollutants.

The startup’s founder, Yosi Romano, said: “Following the birth of my daughter, I became particularly aware of the impact air pollution can have on children’s health. Pushing Alma’s pram through busy streets…

“[She was so] close to the epicentre of the fumes of a vehicle, so I decided that something needed to be done. That’s when Brizi was born. Our children are the future and we need to protect them in any way possible.”

Emitted mainly by diesel vehicles, high levels of toxic nitrogen dioxide have been above legal limits in around 90 per cent of UK areas for seven years.

Brizi Baby is designed for prams and strollers, and reduces the levels of harmful gases and particles in a child’s breathing area by up to 80 per cent. It has been designed by Map Project Office and the app is designed by technology design studio, We Are Hive.

Professor Prashant Kumar said: “When we tested Brizi Baby in a real-world scenario, it reduced the airborne pollution levels by at least 49 per cent. When tested near idling vehicles on the road, this reduction rose to 80 per cent.”

Now working with crowdfunding platform Kickstarter, the company is hoping to raise £105k, which will bring the Brizi Baby to life and fund the manufacture of fully operable units for further crash testing ahead of a public market launch.

Data from Brizi Baby’s sensors will be transmitted via Bluetooth to the Brizi app, which is free to download. This records personalised air quality data readings in real-time, based on where the person is travelling.

An air pollution ‘heat map’ will also be available, which helps people to choose alternative routes to those that are pollution hotspots.

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