Gizmos & Gadgets: Portable Wearable Device to Monitor the Air You Breathe

December 17, 2015

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December 17, 2015 – For the person in your life who has everything why not buy them an Atmotube. This sleek, high-tech cylinder monitors the air around you and sends alerts to your smartphone. It can detect airborne pollutants and gases including carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, benzene, acetone and many other volatile organic chemicals.

The inventors of Atmotube want you to think more about what you breathe in each day. The idea is you can raise your awareness about both local outdoor environment pollution as well as indoor air quality. In work environments it can identify unsuspected hazards from indoor pollution that normally you don’t think about.

The company promotion video and materials state, “Every day we unconsciously take more than 20,000 breaths. Unless we have a problem, we don’t think about WHAT we’re breathing in, and how that air might affect our bodies.” Having read this by now you are consciously thinking about your breathing and about to get hooked because the message continues…“there are dangers lurking in the air…..carbon monoxide poisoning can happen when you breathe in even small amounts of the gas causing terrible headaches and dizziness….other volatile organic compounds such as formaldehyde and benzene….linked to an increased risk of heart disease, stroke, liver and brain damage and even cancer….most people don’t find out they’ve been exposed to toxic air until it’s too late.”

Now that you are paranoid about every breath you take you can, by purchasing an Atmotube, be alert to all the potential dangers in the air around you. Using this compact titanium cylinder with its gas sensor you can track more than 21 airborne pollutants including solvents, cleaning fluids, cooking byproducts and particulate matter. You also get readouts on temperature and humidity. Atmotube even detects the trace pollutant gases emitted by mold and mildew. Clip one to your purse or belt and continuously receive an Air Quality Score that pops up on your smartphone app. And for those wanting to track of global warming’s number one cause, rising carbon dioxide levels, you can stay up to date with the best that atmospheric scientists produce although your readings will be local and not global.

Earlier this year the company launched its Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign. With 22 days left they have exceeded the $52,000 U.S. goal by 268%, raising over $139,000 in pledges. Order Atmotube on their website for $69.00 U.S. But if you go to the Indiegogo site, you can still get a 10-pack bundle for $660.00 plus shipping (no charge for shipping in the U.S.), a perfect gift for all your friends and family at Christmas.

Then there’s the 25 and 50 pack distributor and reseller bundles which should be of interest to Chinese retailers in cities like Beijing and Shanghai. After all if they can sell a can of fresh air made in the Canadian Rockies to consumers why not an air quality monitor that reminds them why their customers need that canister in the first place.

But I’m kidding. I do see some legitimate reasons for purchasing an Atmotube. If you are suspicious about unexplained symptoms like headaches and lightheadedness in a workplace or home environment, and you don’t want to call in air quality experts, then the sensor should quickly verify air quality and even identify the pollutant source. I also can see the value for asthmatics or people suffering from obstructive pulmonary disease, airborne allergies and other respiratory conditions.

Two surprising omissions. One of the most volatile pollutants found in home basements, radon gas and ground-level ozone, the latter, a leading cause of childhood asthma in urban areas. I wonder why these were missed. And on a more personal note, I would like to know that Atmotube can detect cat dander in the air? For as much as I love cats from a distance they don’t love me when I get near them. If I can be forewarned at the entrance to a building or home where there are cats and kittens then I’m buying.