Dyson recently shared the results of its first Global Connected Air Quality Data project.
The project analysed indoor air quality information collected by more than 2.5 million Dyson Purifiers from 2022 to 2023.
Landscaping air quality in real homes worldwide to a high degree of granularity, it broke pollution down into gas and particle pollutants and profiled trends over days, months, seasons and the full year.
The data comes from Dyson Purifiers connected to the MyDyson app.
The volume of data from this exceeds half a trillion data points and paints a precise picture of indoor air quality in cities and countries globally.
This project focused on two types of pollutants – PM2.5 and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs).
PM2.5 refers to particles as small as 2.5 microns in diameter, 1/25th the diameter of a typical human hair.
These particles are invisible to the naked eye, can be inhaled and are an area of increasing scientific and health research.
Sources include combustion, wood burners, or gas cooking and heating – pet dander, ash and dust.
VOCs, meanwhile, are gas pollutants, including Benzene and Formaldehyde, which can be emitted from activities like cleaning or gas cooking as well as from products including deodorants and body sprays, candles, furniture and furnishings.
Dyson purifier data showed that winter was the most polluted season globally.
In UAE and KSA, October had the highest air pollution, while July had the lowest month.
Although the study didn’t conclude the reason behind this, it shared that the two countries’ residential patterns could be why, with many residents travelling out of the country during the hot summer months and the purifiers likely not activated during the summer.
The research also found that purifiers are used most intensely in the evenings and overnight.
In 30 out of 37 countries studied (including UAE and KSA), the highest levels of pollution indoor PM2.5 levels were highest during the evening and night-time hours.
This number considers machines on ‘Auto mode’ as well as ‘Manual mode’ – suggesting that owners actively turn on their products at a similar time to when pollution spikes and correlates with when people are at home doing activities like cooking, cleaning or working out which may trigger indoor pollution events.
The study found that the indoor air quality in the UAE never exceeded that of the outdoor air quality.
Markets whose indoor air quality measured higher on average than outdoor experiences included China, Austria, Spain, Singapore, Australia, Canada, Germany, Romania, the UK, France and Malaysia.
All countries’ monthly average indoor PM2.5 levels exceeded WHO long-term exposure guidance for at least six months in the year.