Clothing additive helps remove pollutants from air

Scientists and manufacturers are working together to bring product to market

An additive that can be impregnated into clothes during washing has the ability to break down airborne pollutants, researchers have claimed.

People wearing the clothes could clean the air around them as they walked down the street, said Professor Helen Storey, professor of fashion and science at the London College of Fashion.

Storey has worked with chemist Professor Tony Ryan from the University of Sheffield to develop the technology. During the washing process, particles of titanium dioxide catalyst attach to clothes. Once activated by ultraviolet light, the particles break down nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compound pollutants found in the air.

Research into the possible effects of the technology in Sheffield estimated that if half the city's population impregnated 10% of their clothing with the catalyst, nitrogen oxide levels could fall to below levels recommended by the European Union. Storey said: “When used on a dress, one square metre of fabric removes 0.5 grams of nitrogen oxide per day.”

Titanium dioxide is a relatively low cost mineral that is used in self-cleaning windows, as well as sunscreen and toothpaste. It is the world's ninth most abundant mineral, with supplies found primarily in China, Africa and South America.

Storey and Ryan are in talks with major detergent manufacturers to hone formulations of potential products so that the catalyst properly adheres to clothes. She said that adding the catalyst into a detergent mix could add five pence to the cost of a packet of washing powder. Work is on-going to fully explore any health and safety issues.

Storey added that the technology should be ready for use in about two years.