The new miracle material.
We do go on about indoor air quality, and years ago would complain about all the formaldehyde in the particleboard in cheap IKEA and other brands of furniture. They cleaned up their act by phasing out hazardous chemicals and reducing emissions, and now are proposing to actually clean up our homes with their new GUNRID curtains. From the press release:
© IKEA
IKEA doesn’t quite say what is in the fabric, but describes it as " both unique and innovative. It consists of a mineral based, photo catalyst coating that is applied to the textile. When activated by light – both indoor and outdoor light - GUNRID breaks down common indoor air pollutants." They call it “a unique technology, which has been developed by IKEA over the last years together with universities in Europe and Asia as well as IKEA suppliers and innovators. The way it works is similar to photosynthesis found in nature.” According to Product Developer Mauricio Affonso,
The TreeHugger take is that these pollutants shouldn’t be in your house in the first place, but that’s really hard with all the solvents in cleaners and makeup, and the surprising amount of VOCs emitted by cooking in your big open kitchen with a lousy exhaust hood.
Product Developer Mauricio Affonso says everyone deserves clean air.
Having materials that actually absorb and break down indoor pollutants instead of emitting them is a great step forward. As Lena Pripp-Kovac notes, “We know that there is no single solution to solve air pollution. We work long term for positive change, to enable people to live healthier and more sustainable lives.”
UPDATE: A sharp-eyed reader noticed in the video that the drapes are treated with Titanium Dioxide. We have expressed reservations about this technology before, concluding that “there are no magic bullets. We just have to stop making pollution in the first place.”
