Nature-based solutions to purify the air pollution

According to WHO data, nowadays almost half of the people in the world live in urban areas, where around 47% have poor air quality. Air pollution is responsible for around 7 million deaths worldwide every year since poor air quality is a condition that triggers various cardio-respiratory diseases [1-7]. -Only the NOx causes half of the deaths caused by diseases of this type in Spain [8].

Fortunately, several studies have shown the benefits of nature-based solutions in the form of biofilters with an efficiency greater than 99% to remove PM10 particles from polluted air (both indoors and outdoors). Regarding interior spaces, a Dynamic Botanical Air Filtration System (DBAF) demonstrated its potential for removing indoor VOC’s with an efficiency of 90% formaldehyde and over 33% for toluene [9-17].

There have been made experimental tests with standardized sensors to measure the efficiency of our technology regarding the emissions absorption from a car’s exhaust pipe. The test was made measuring the emissions generated by a diesel vehicle 2007 model during 40 minutes (manufactured under the standards the euro 4) with all the loads placed (engine idling; air conditioning started; lights and lights on; windscreen wipers on; stereo at high-volume; flashing lights on; anti-fogging system on and the driving assistance on).

The total amount of emissions were of 48 ppm or 98 mg / m3 of NOx, which was absorbed by 1 sqm of vegetation in 120 minutes. One MUAC has 4 sqm of vegetation so it can reduce the time of absorption to only 30 minutes, furthermore, functioning 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. 

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