Monitoring air pollution

Despite Beijing announcing its first ever red alert for air pollution, smog is not a new phenomenon for the city’s residents. Many new devices can be found on the market today to bring the latest pollution forecasts to mobile phones, even allowing residents to monitor air quality in their own homes.

Origins, a Beijing-based startup, has seen its Laser Egg device flying off the shelves since the Beijing government implemented its first red alert on air pollution. The egg-shaped portable device, costing around 50 euros, measures air pollution on a real-time basis. A built-in laser beam picks up particles in the air, presenting a calculation of the fine particulate matter per cubic metre. The manufacturer claims it can detect particles as small as 0.3 microns in diameter.

“Air pollution is completely invisible,” says Liam Bates, founder of Origins. “In your house, you have no idea if it’s very healthy or hazardous. You really can’t tell. So we wanted to create a device which would be