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We typically hear talk of air pollution and emissions in terms of their long-term impact on the environment. It’s not just that. What’s often overlooked - and we don’t even realize it - is how they’re affecting individual people.
Blue Skies, a Harvard iLab startup, has caught on to this issue. Globally, millions of people die each year from air pollution and even more individuals are affected by asthma. Which is why the venture has created the ultimate respirator to filter out all harmful components of air pollution
And it all began in Beijing, a city notorious for its air pollution.
Jay Munster - the company’s founder and CEO, who has a Masters in Atmospheric Chemistry and PhD in Environmental Engineering from Harvard - explained:
The story starts 6 or 7 years ago. I used to be an investment banker at JP Morgan. I’m probably one of the only people you’ll meet who went from investment banking to a science PhD...Back when I was in finance, I was in Beijing just before the Olympics. I like to exercise and stay fit, so I went for a sprint, which - for one thing - no one in China exercises, so I looked weird running. But I also had an asthma attack and I don’t have asthma. My lungs were in horrible pain. I couldn’t move for about 3 days after. I was like a feeble old man. Even getting to my bed was a chore. I had to hold onto a handrail and pull myself up one step at a time.
Munster had never experienced anything like that incident. He took to his personal blog and recounted what had happened. It ended up garnering a fair amount of attention, and, according to him:
People kept asking me, "What respirator is available for me to exercise? Does 3M cut it?" I had to explain to them that there is nothing that can filter out everything that can kill you. A lot of respirators can filter the physical components, but can’t do anything about the chemical components, which is the biggest part of air pollution. They’d usually say, "You’re smart. Why don’t you make one?" and I had to tell them that I’m not a magical science unicorn. I had this ridiculous conversation too many times.
Munster did have some magical science power within him, after all. He built his own spectrometer inside his apartment, which was around the point that he realized, “Crap, I really am a mad scientist now.” He began to test and augment different materials based on the chemistry knowledge he had. In the end, he managed to develop a thin filter that removes the chemical components of air pollution - and all for $20,000 in grant money.
“It turns out, China was a terrible idea.”
Then the excitement started to erupt. Blue Skies intends to go into a more advanced market and use a portion of the revenue to send respirators to less developed countries where pollution-linked mortality rates are high. So when the Chinese government paid Munster to visit four major cities throughout the country to speak with their most notable innovation groups, it seemed like a promising lead. But the opportunity quickly revealed itself to be bad bet, specifically because of how difficult it is to protect intellectual property in China.
“It turns out, China was a terrible idea,” he told me. “In particular, the lack of IP protection makes it terrible. If you find a Chinese investor, I’ve been told that once they have your technology, they’ve done their due diligence and know everything about it... Why do they need you anymore? They view investments more as technology purchases than partnerships.”
Munster didn’t want to give up that easily on China. He started to think about how he could establish his IP in the eastern nation. So he thought about publishing his data.
“People laughed at me, asking, ‘Do you think you can’t fake a publication in China? There’s no way of telling whether a real publication from a fake one, so it proves nothing.’”
He continued, “I was depressed when I found out I couldn’t make money in China. I contemplated going the non-profit route and start chasing grant money. But I knew that wouldn’t generate the reach needed. Four million people are dying each year from air pollution. I cannot be relying on fickle grant writers to help.”
That’s right. “One out of every 8 deaths globally is caused by air pollution,” Munster said. “Half of them are from indoor air pollution. People are so impoverished that they don’t have stoves. They cook with fires using whatever they can find.”
These people end up burning material that shouldn’t be burned, and it leads to pulmonary diseases and fatalities, which is why Munster wants to bring Blue Skies to these areas to help. So he identified another possible market that could support these efforts.
Even in advanced countries, like the U.S., air pollution is affecting us. In our case, though, emissions from traffic are strongly linked to asthma. While all cannot suddenly stop using our cars or splurge on Teslas, Munster determined that his respirator technology could prevent infants from having air pollution-induced asthma attacks. Blue Skies has developed a portable, fan-driven filtration device that parents can place in strollers to protect their children from harmful components in the air.
Right now, Munster said Blue Skies is tying loose ends with manufacturers and is planning on launching a Kickstarter in the coming months. He’s working out a way to emphasize the positive aspects of the product - how it will reduce asthma and 20% of the proceeds will go towards saving lives in emerging nations - so the campaign will be ready to roll.
Image via Jay Munster.
