Enviro Technology Services, in Stroud, is making its Air Quality Monitoring Vehicle (nicknamed the ‘Smogmobile’) available for local authorities and private companies to hire, for quick, low-cost analysis of pollution in specific areas.

The Smogmobile takes measurements each minute, logging them against GPS co-ordinates, and is said to be more sensitive, more accurate and faster than the UK’s 133 national air quality monitoring network stations.  

It’s hoped that this will enable users to identify pollution hotspots, analyse air quality at head and pushchair height and monitor the boundaries of industrial sites, without emitting any additional pollutants at the point of use.

Duncan Mounsor, Managing Director of Enviro Technology Services, said: “Air pollution causes more than 50,000 deaths a year in the UK and costs the economy billions. We have developed the Air Quality Monitoring Vehicle to give local authorities and researchers a powerful new tool to plan action to clean up our air and tackle one of our greatest public health challenges.”

The pilot study, which analysed air quality during a drive between Reading and Waterloo Bridge via central London, showed some parts of the capital were exposed to almost twice the NOx levels permitted by EU law (however, the latter stipulates per-hour exposure, rather than brief periods). It also highlighted that NOx is 21% higher inside a car with closed windows than it is outside.

Commenting on the study, Dr Ben Barratt, Lecturer in Air Quality Science at King’s College London, said:  “These initial findings highlight the urgent need for further investigation into the health risks faced by motorists and their passengers. It is especially important to understand the impacts of air pollution on professional motorists such as taxi and lorry drivers, who spend many hours behind the wheel each day.”