Air by CCSquared “Know the Air You Breathe”
Company Description:
Toxic chemicals in the air we breathe cause significant health problems. Existing methods to measure these are limited by the availability of air samplers, the cost, and the shelf life of these. Remediation methods, especially in the home, are not available or are too costly (Dyson air purifiers, ERVs). We are working to update this industry and fill in the gaps with affordable offerings.
We currently offer mail-in air samplers and laboratory analysis services for clear, all-inclusive prices that allow customers to accurately measure potentially harmful chemical vapors in their breathing zone. We are developing the next generation of air tests, as well as air purifiers that have lower cost, practical shelf life, and other market-specific features with an emphasis on the occupational exposure market for our first few years, launching into the home market once these products are more refined.
Tech Stack:
Our “tech stack” consists of five types of chemical measurements made using four state-of-the-art instruments, the most powerful of which is our GC-MS system with a thermal desorption device. The thermal desorption technique analyses the chemicals experienced by the customer directly by desorbing the chemical vapors from the adsorbent present in the air samplers by heating the absorbent (typically a powder) in a stream of inert gas such as helium. The vapors are captured in a cold trap and then analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) after rapid vaporization by flash heating. Our GC uses an advanced mass spectrometer as a detector that we operate in single ion monitoring mode (SIM) to achieve the highest detection specificity and sensitivity. We also use HPLC, ion chromatography and UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy to supply the customer with the broadest range of measurements.
