Young Bristolian campaigner’s fight for better air quality at school gains support from global air purification experts

As a new school term starts, a Bristolian primary school pupil has secured 16 high performing Blueair air purifiers so his classmates can breathe cleaner indoor air while they learn – and they are already noticing the benefits.

Nine-year-old Jakub Kozlowski had been campaigning to reduce the level of air pollution around his school after learning that it was located in one of the most polluted locations in Bristol. After his efforts made local press, he contacted Blueair, who were more than happy to support the young activist and his classmates by offering to donate enough purifiers to ensure every classroom would benefit from clean indoor air.

Parson Street Primary School sits on the corner of one of Bristol’s busiest junctions and the location of nearby traffic lights means that there is a constant queue of cars waiting for extended periods immediately outside the school gates. Jakub began his campaign in early 2021 by heroically running 2km every school day for two weeks in order to raise enough money to purchase banners for his school’s fence that ask drivers to turn off their engines whilst idling near the building.

After meeting his initial goal and conducting further research, Jakub became aware of the many benefits that cleaner indoor air has for learning and concentration. He set out to purchase an air purifier for his classroom. After contacting Blueair, a leading manufacturer also fighting for children’s’ right to breathe cleaner indoor air, Jakub was very pleased to receive donations not only for his classroom, but for the whole school.

Jakub comments, “We have had our purifiers working for the last few weeks, it’s made a massive impact for our classroom. I used to be able to taste the pollution sometimes but now that the air purifier is on, we have none of that. Also, both my friends, who have asthma, have been doing alright as well. The next thing we are planning to do is to use the money I raised to pay for green screens around the school. Hopefully that will help with air pollution in the playground. Thank you very much Blueair for helping all of us but mostly our LUNGS. You helped us make a massive difference!”

Blueair’s air purifiers have been tested to effectively remove at least 99.97% of airborne particles from the air while remaining whisper-quiet and the brand’s newest air purifier, the HealthProtect™ 7400-series, has been tested to remove 99.99% of live airborne SARS-CoV-2 virus in controlled biosafety level 3 lab testing.

Fiona Price, Business Manager for Parson Street School comments,

“We are so grateful to have received the donation for the new term – not only to protect staff and pupils from air pollution but also to mitigate the spread of Covid-19 at a time when the government and scientists are putting emphasis on the effectiveness of air purifiers. We are an inner-city school with an extremely busy road outside of our boundary, many cars idle at the traffic lights causing lots of emissions from their exhausts. One of our pupils started to raise awareness of the pollution in our area and more specifically around the school. Since the units were installed, our staff and pupils have already noticed the impact on their health and wellbeing with some saying they can feel the difference when they breathe. We cannot thank Blueair enough.”

Alexander Provins, Director of Blueair EMEA comments:

“A child’s right to breathe clean air is a cornerstone of Blueair’s belief system. Only recently has the UN recognised children’s right to clean air following a significant campaign led by Global Action Plan and supported by Blueair for young people around the world. The Freedom to Breathe campaign received almost 30,000 signatures from concerned children world-wide. We really admire Jakub’s drive and encourage him to continue campaigning for what he believes in.”

What many do not know is that indoor air can be up to five times more polluted than outdoor air, yet we spend around 90% of our time indoors. Blueair is founded on the belief that everyone, especially children, should have the freedom to breathe clean air. Clean air gives children the opportunity to live happier and healthier lives and also improves children’s physical and cognitive development.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), nine out of ten children around the world are breathing in toxins that exceed safe levels which can interfere with critical stages of organ development in a child. Children are more physiologically vulnerable to air pollution based on their smaller relative size and they have greater exposure to air pollution based on their relative faster breathing rate, per unit of body weight, compared to adults. By 2050, UNICEF predicts that air pollution will become the leading cause of child mortality and the WHO estimates that in 2016 alone, 600,000 children died from acute lower respiratory infections caused by polluted air. It is with these statistics in mind and admiration for Jakub’s hard work that Blueair donated a total of 16 air purifiers, one for each classroom, with the knowledge that the installation of these air purifiers will lead to a significant reduction in potentially harmful air particles in the school.

The donated air purifiers, Blueair’s Blue 221, combine electrostatic and mechanical filtering technology to deliver 5 air exchanges per hour in rooms up to 50 m2. The combination Particle + Carbon Filter uses a layer of activated carbon to filter light household odours from pets, cooking, and smoking, while the main particle filter removes up to 99.97% of airborne particles, like pollen, dust, pet dander, and more. Blueair’s Blueair air purifiers are recognized for superior performance in combination with low noise and low energy-consumption. They are used by schools, nurseries, and children’s hospitals across the world.