Inner peace is the new success and breathing clean is the new luxury in our urban 24×7 rush-hour lives. UrbanMeisters, while you try and master inner peace, we can definitely help you breathe clean in whichever megacity you live. This time we introduce you to a must-have accessory more important than your smartphone and every bit a wearable smart-luxury like the Apple watch – U-Mask – the first Biotech air pollution mask.
Before we jump into telling you all about this cool brand, we tell you why we are presenting this particular air pollution mask brand. No, not because this is a sponsored post. But because U-mask is exactly the kind of green product that resonates with our 3 key requirements on UrbanMeisters that a product must have to be featured:

  • Greener living: First stop when we go on green product hunt for you. Either a product must help you fight pollution or help you live sustainable to not cause pollution. We pick those solutions for you that are the most sustainable and help you identify the REAL GREEN vs. GREENWASHING. We are strong believers in circular economy and help you be part of it.
  • Efficient & Easy: We’re time-crunched global citizens. So a product or idea we present has to be efficient yet convenient to help us switch. They must have a realistic fit into our urban lives and help you privilege the time you have with your friends, family, pets or just yourself! This brand again totally fits all these requirements.
  • Cool & Stylish: Living green shouldn’t be a dreary affair. We love products that prove to the world that Sustainable can be Sexy, Ethical can be Edgy and Conscious can be Cool! Here again the product we feature today scores full marks.

 

Does pollution mask still sound like a Martian to you?

Dear global citizen, if you are still thinking that air pollution is an over-hyped urban legend, you are mistaken. From Paris, New York, London, New Delhi to Beijing pollution is a real threat to healthy living. In recent times there have been multiple incidents of air pollution reaching alarming levels. So much so that in some cities an odd-even vehicle number policy had to be introduced. And most urbans feel the negative impact of air pollution on their (or loved ones) health in form of allergies to ‘conditions’ like a recurring common cold, throat irritations, headaches etc. World Health Organisation data says almost 12.6 million deaths happen due to unhealthy environments globally. So while we don’t mean to scare you, we definitely believe in taking control & fighting back!
 

The U-Mask evolution

The company behind U-mask is U-earth, a unique biotechnology private company with the aim of creating as many Pure Air Zones (just like wifi-zones) as possible. As the founder explains – just like we consume certain calories of food and minimum amount of water everyday, we breathe in about 25kg of air. And thus, air quality matters. U-earth, headquartered in Italy, Switzerland and in the US, is a team of two women founders – Gabriella Motta & Betta Magio. Their first innovation was creating a unique air purification system through their patented product AIRcel – a very powerful & advanced biological air purifier for industrial, medical and urban professional settings.

air pollution mask video

What is revolutionary about AIRcel is that it cleans air through a natural technology – hosting bacteria, intelligent living beings in its bioreactors to be able to digest the captured contaminants! You need to add water every other day (just like a plant) and add a mono-dose of U-Ox to the water every 30 days. This is where the biotechnology comes in – cleansing the air via a completely natural phenomena. The selected bacteria are guaranteed Non-Genetically Modified and non-infectious. Totally safe, just like Yogurt.
 

The revolution of air purification – living beings in your air purifier!

So what’s special about U-Mask? The knowledge derived from AIRcel technology has been applied to U-mask,  the first-of-its-kind biotech air pollution mask. U-mask is the evolutionary hybrid of an allergy mask, a dust mask and a respirator mask. The innovation in U-Mask is an added filtering layer – the U-Ox® BIO-ACTIVE TM Layer. This biotech layer performs way more effectively than the regular pollution masks that use replaceable activated carbon cloth or surgery medical masks. The bio-layer contains enzymes and harmless microorganisms which are activated each time you breathe. Because of its unique proprietary formula enzyme compound the bio-layer degrades the harmful compounds, viruses and pathogenic bacteria instead of simply filtering them.
air pollution mask speca 1
air pollution mask CTA

U-Mask VS. Other air pollution masks

With its additional biotech layer, U-Mask offers the highest standard protection & it is the most sustainable option amongst air pollution masks

  • Better than a N99 or N95 face mask: Most N95 masks, dust masks and allergy masks are not effective in blocking superfine contaminants and, most of all, they don’t destroy pollution but only just block it. Surgical masks provide the lowest protection from urban pollution and are frequently used for the wrong purpose. U-Mask has an efficiency of up to 99.9% and protects from contaminant exposure NPF (Nominal Protection Factor) up to 50x TLV (time weighted average contaminant concentration to which the user may be exposed without any health effects). A N95 mask has a NPF of only 12x TLV.
  • Better than FFP2 mask:  The U-Mask level of protection is a CE registered a FFP2, which thanks to the internal BioActive Layer performed as a FFP3 EN 149 CE registered. Sounds geeky, but this technical specs sheet will make it easy for you to understand. The result is a never before European protection level FFP3 dust mask, anti pollution, anti allergy mask which is able to capture down to PM 0.4 small contaminants (while most masks filter only PM2.5), with the light weight and breathing resistance of an anti air pollution FFP2 dust mask.
  • No more wearing a mask full of contaminants: Virus & bacteria once trapped into typical air pollution masks remain trapped into the layers of cloth of the mask and because of the heat and humidity of the breath they are prone to gladly survive. U-mask smart biotech layer ensures no more alive pathogens are sitting on your face. Superfine particles, under 0.3 microns can enter into our system and are are able to cross our Blood Brain Barrier, accumulating in our brain over the years. U-mask creates an internal proprietary phenomena called « molecular charge attraction”, well studied and explained  in U-earth air purifiers,  for which the  particles too small to be filtered by a membrane get trapped and held.
  • Protection irrespective of fit: Other masks in the market rely on avoiding leakage since the air in order to be treated HAS to pass through nothing more than a number of fabric layers hoping the ultra fine particles will remain physically entrenched in the fabric. U-mask’s biotech layer creates an « electrostatic field » around it. The result of this is that the micro organisms generate a very tight polymeric field neutrally charged, which attract by electrical molecular charge the superfine contaminants, like a magnet would do with iron dust,  traps them in and destroys them by bio oxidation, leaving behind the indigestible elements ( this is why the refill will eventually get saturated and has to be changed). Therefore, IF the superfine particles manage to enter the inside of the mask, instead of being more naturally attracted to the external, they will travel to the internal mask surface, thus not directing to the airways.

air pollution mask specs
air pollution mask CTA

4 things that U-Mask for us urbans!

Interestingly, the founding team started to design U-mask for themselves, to protect from strong pollution when visiting industrial sites which needed their clean air systems. And since everybody was asking, they decided to make them pretty and available to the rest of the world. Now while we have already explained why U-Mask is the best option amongst air pollution masks here are some other practical conveniences & the cool part about it.
 

Uber-stylish & something for everyone

U-Mask has a very wide range of eclectic, snazzy designs. From animal prints, solid bright colours, to dark basics there’s something for everyone to have a personal favorite. U-mask comes in 30 different patterns and styles and 3 different sizes of elastic bands engineered to fit everybody including kids.
air pollution mask details
air pollution mask CTA
U-mask has 4 models – Basic refill, Basic SOS model, Waterproof Rip Stop & Waterproof Sport, starting from 32EUR to 56EUR for waterproof models. The cover can be double faced in the cotton satin collections, or it comes in a single faced solid color in the waterproof models but the exclusive covers stay beautiful throughout its lifetime. We recommend that you simply opt for the U-mask URBAN premium pack that contains one cover, 1 refill and 2 size elastic ear bands to fit different size heads. The package can be used to carry your U-mask in your bag when you are not wearing it.
Add to that U-Mask even has an exclusive collaboration with & is stocked at the premium luxury concept store 10, Corso Como, Milan! All U-Mask models are produced 100% in Milano, Italy but shipped worldwide!
air pollution mask shop now

Perfect for those who love outdoor workout

U-mask basically acts as a « Resistance Training Device » which conditions the breathing musculature because of breathing resistance. When adding friction to inhalation you naturally take deeper breaths and pace your breathing. Better fatigue tolerance which will allow you to work out at peak work intensities for longer intervals.
 

Reusable & saves money

Careful about not polluting the planet U-Mask is designed to reduce wastage. The internal refill part is reusable up to one year or 400 hours of use, and the cover is endless, which makes them the most sustainable mask on the market, both for price (divide the cost of U-mask by 365 days of disposable ones!!!) and waste management. Since U-mask is reusable it can be gently wiped from external dirt lasting for hundreds of hours.
 

U-Mask also has opportunities for co-branding!

Subject to quantities it can be custom printed with your company logo. And even the cover can be tweaked to carry forward the branding elements.
Shop U-Mask right here via UrbanMeisters & get the best possible protection against air pollution in your city!
air pollution mask CTA
 
Now that you know which air pollution mask to opt for, we also recommend that you download PlumeLabs app to keep a check on pollution levels in your city and read Supertips by founder Mirela to keep yourself protected from pollution 24×7!
air pollution mask outro

Recent Posts

Start typing and press Enter to search