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Urban Commuters, Rejoice: This Mask Stops You from Breathing Air Pollutants

By Frantiska Blazkova

After a morning ride to work or a day of running errands on your bicycle throughout the city, have you ever felt like you’ve smoked a bunch of cigars or a cheese grater has been pushed down your throat? The reason is urban air pollution. Depending on the size and preferred transport of the inhabitants, every larger modern-day city is basically sealed off with a lid of harmful airborne particles. And that’s why R-PUR was born.

This French start-up project is still in the prototype phase but their air-filtrating face mask has already reached 343 % of its goal on the crow-funding platform Indiegogo and is offered in a variety of designs. The R-PUR claims to allow you “to breathe a clean air by filtering toxic particles, fine and diesel particles, pollen as well as viruses and bacteria present in the air, all without compromising on comfort and style.” According to their promo video, the mask boasts to catch up to 99,8 % of any potential airborne nasties while making you look badass. We wouldn’t expect anything less than a functional haute couture from the French.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTTBf1pUH3M

The mask itself is fully adjustable, ergonomic, and supposed to make a perfect fit with any kind of helmet because it was designed primarily with two-wheeled commuters in mind. Cyclists, bikers, scooter riders or even joggers can enjoy a five-tier air cleaning system that should offer a new generation filtering and protection higher than the European FFP3 norm, placed on heavy-duty dust masks. To make it sound even more sci-fi, the R-PUR mask is connected to your smartphone via a namesake app that tells you when to replace the main filter.

The mask still isn’t available for commercial market but you can make a pre-order through their Indiegogo page – they promise to deliver as early as February 2018 and you will be able to choose your own design