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Pollution inside – Bus vs Plane

“It’s the best mask I’ve tried so far.”

Allan Hansen – Califonia, USA

Allan Hansen, CA, USA

Allan Hansen, CA, USA

Allen travel a lot and want to protect himself when he is in cities with heavy air pollution. He tried the TOTOBOBO mask and it appears to be the best mask he has tried so far. He ordered a bunch for his family because TOTOBOBO mask can fit the small faces of his children too.

As a traveler, pollution can exit in the most unexpected place. If it is not because of my previous research for a post (Say no to to pollution in school bus). I wouldn’t suspect there can be polluted air circulating inside a deluxe, aircond tourist coach.

Two weeks ago I took a SVIP coach from Singapore to Cameron Highlands. The seats inside this coach are large and the back can be lowered to almost flat- just nice for a good night sleep. The soft velvet feels comfy but I was curious to find out the air quality inside the bus.

I put on my mask during the overnight trip. We were required to get off the bus when crossing the border, and there were a couple of pee-stops during the night. I took off my mask when I need to get out of the bus and put it back on when I am getting back in.

After 6 hours of use

After 6 hours of use

When we reach Cameron Highland it was 7am in the morning, I was shocked to discover the gray patch collected on the filters- a clear indication of air pollution inside the coach, most likely from it’s own engine! The air quality along the route up Cameron Highlands at that time should be very clean.

To make sure I was not making this up, I decided to compare the result on a plane trip. I put on the mask with a clean set of filters on a business trip to Frankfurt. When I reach there after 12 hours, I can not see any noticeable sign of dirt. To be very sure about this, I put the same mask on during my flight back. Now it accumulated a total 24 hours of use in the plane. Judging from the color of the filter it is still very clean.

My conclusion? The air inside that coach is MUCH worst than the air inside the plane. It seems the air filter on plane is much more effective than those on buses, if the buses have any air filter at all.

24 hours of use in a plane

24 hours of use in a plane

Read more:
TOTOBOBO, the fitting mask for children
How to customize TOTOBOBO mask?
Advanced features of TOTOBOBO mask

{ 4 comments… add one }
  • Sreedhar 2012-02-28, 4:45 am

    Ujwala you can purchase these masks also and these are most efficient to avoid dust and smoke pollution.

  • Sreedhar 2012-02-28, 4:39 am

    Hi Ujwala, how are you this is Seedhar, I hope you remember me. How are you doing? Regarding your fathers health, I am aware of that he is an Asthamatic and he use to get admitted to Mahaveer hospitals frequently, you can use any kind of respirator masks to avoid traffic pollution and you can also get dust free reusable masks in most of the surgical shops in Hyd. I think he also a chronic smoker so he may be having COPD(chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) that is the reason he may need a nebulizer machine most frequently to deliver bronchodilator drugs (Asthaline ) and he may need CPAP/BiPAP machine to assist his breathing difficulty to eliminate excessive Carbondioxade from his blood.
    I think you posted this during 2008, but I saw your post on Feb 2012. In case you need any help and clarifications you can ping me on sreedharcp@yahoo.com. Who is his Pulmonologist at HYd? I know most of the Pulmonologists in HYD and most of
    My friends and students are working in HYD , so ping me when ever you need any help on his Lung condition. Regards
    Sreedhar

  • Petro 2009-02-04, 2:05 pm

    Part of the reason that the airplane is “cleaner” is that during almost all of the flight the airplane is recirculating the air.

    This means that MOST of the air has been cleaned of particulates by being run through several sacks full of damp spongy material called “Lungs”.

    How do the filters do on trapping virus and bacteria 🙂

  • ujwala mudari 2008-11-28, 10:31 pm

    my dad have asthama and he uses by-pass machine to breath everyday before sleeping and his lungs are damaged a little nbit and india is a very polluted and i wanted to use these TOTOBOBO mask so that he can travel everyday breathing resh air, ready to purchase just need the proper ingormation

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