Red Bull has deployed a fleet of 21 new cars fitted with air filtration devices as new analysis has found that in-car NO2 levels in central London can be as much as four times the World Health Organisation (WHO) limit.

Red Bull has fitted the devices to 21 new Skoda Scalas

Based on almost 150,000 data points from 28 roadside monitoring stations over a year, the research by clean air technology specialist Airlabs reveals that, on average, in-car NO2 levels in London are almost double the recommended WHO limit; this can rise up to four times in some cases.

Marc Ottolini, CEO of Airlabs, said: “People assume that their car protects them from the air pollution in our cities, but the opposite is true, as levels of NO2 have been found to be up to 70% higher in vehicles than outside. This comprehensive new analysis shows that using your car in central London poses serious health risks to drivers.”

To help protect its drivers, Red Bull has installed Airlabs’ AirBubbl devices in 21 new Škoda Scala cars, which will be driven by the Red Bull Musketeers – the firm’s on trade sales team – in central London and across the UK.

The AirBubbl mitigates the impact of air pollution by removing up to 95% of harmful particulate matter and dangerous gases from a vehicle. By installing the devices, Airlabs have found that Red Bull will reduce average NO2 concentration levels for their drivers in central London to almost a quarter of the WHO limit.

David Oliver, procurement manager at Red Bull, said: “We’ve become really aware and  concerned about the air pollution crisis which is affecting cities across the UK. Our Red Bull Musketeers spend a lot of time driving in cities and their health and wellbeing is vitally important to us, so installing an AirBubbl in all of our new cars is a positive step to look after our staff, as any responsible business should.

“The move is part of our commitment to make our fleet greener and reduce our contribution to air pollution. With the purchase of these 21 Skoda Scalas we’re moving away from diesel to cleaner low carbon and low NO2 petrol fuel as well as looking to move to a fully electric fleet in the next 5 years across all our 200-strong UK fleet.

“We’ll also be making the rest of the business aware of the best ways to help mitigate their exposure to air pollution when travelling to, and around, any UK city on business.”