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Like most Londoners, Tanya Beri has a mixed view of the city’s vast underground network, which carries millions of passengers daily through 11 lines and 272 stations. The Tube keeps London moving, often in cramped, uncomfortable and unsanitary conditions.
But Beri believes she has found a way to improve travel for worried commuters. She has developed a phone app that can direct passengers to routes that minimize air pollution.
“The UK safety limit for healthy air is less than 25 small particles per cubic meter of air,” said Berri. “Sometimes underground, it’s over 200 per cubic meter. I want to help people avoid that.”
Studies suggest that long-term exposure to particulates may increase the incidence of chronic bronchitis and increase mortality from lung cancer and heart disease.
Berri, 29, was awarded one of Innovate UK’s Young Innovator Awards at a ceremony this week, in recognition of her commitment to developing the app. She will be one of her 94 young entrepreneurs to receive around £1.25 million in grants to help tackle some of the biggest challenges facing society in the UK. increase. Her other award-winning inventions range from an inexpensive alternative to onion skin-based plastic to a smart medication dispenser that promotes patient independence.
Veri’s app suggests routes with the lowest risk of breathing highly polluted air. “It’s like TfL [Transport for London] Or the Google app, but instead of offering the fastest journeys between destinations, it offers the least polluting routes,” she said.
An example would be passengers traveling from North Harrow Underground Station to Canary Wharf, part of London’s business district, Berri said. “If you go the fastest way via the Jubilee Line, you will face pollution of about 220 particles per cubic meter. It’s still over safe limits, but it’s less than a quarter of what you’ll experience at the Jubilee Line.”
Researchers found that the subway lines with the most polluted air were Northern, Bakerloo, Jubilee and Victoria. Because these are the deepest. In contrast, lines such as the Metropolitan, Circle, District, etc. have stations close to, or indeed at ground level, therefore less ventilation compared to deeper lines where airflow is inadequate and particles accumulate. is good.
A study by scientists at King’s College London found higher particle concentrations in trains on the Victoria and Northern Lines than in subway train studies in Beijing, Guangzhou, New York, Barcelona and many other cities. Oxford Circus, Waterloo and London Bridge were rated worst on the Underground.
When it comes to the sources of particulates in stations and trains, research has shown that most of them are caused by wheels, tracks and brakes rubbing against each other, releasing small, iron-rich particles. These vary in size, and those smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, known as PM2.5 (Particulate Matter 2.5), are of particular concern. They reach deep into the lungs, enter the bloodstream and are carried throughout the body, affecting other organs.
These are the particles monitored by Veri’s app, which will be released later this year. She also founded CAIR, a company that sells it.
The trigger for Berry to start researching inventions was the problem of air pollution. “I used to commute by subway,” she said. “After traveling with it, I got sick from time to time. So I thought it would be a good idea to find a way to help those most affected by air pollution. That’s the idea of this app.”
Data on pollution levels at subway stations are stored electronically, and once the origin and destination are entered into the app, the optimal low-pollution route is generated for travelers. “It’s easy to operate, which is another important advantage,” she added.
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