Sharp Starting Installations of Plasmacluster Car Air Purifiers in Singapore Cabs by June 2021

Sharp is upping the safety of Singaporeans and tourists against deadly viruses with nationwide installations of its Plasmacluster Car Air Purifiers into over 240 cabs by June 2021.

Credit: Sharp

Called Travel Safe in Comfort, the campaign is meant to protect local cab drivers, who will be among the first to interact with international tourists entering Singapore in the future. The enclosed spaces and high turnover of people make it easy for viruses, including COVID-19, to be transmitted in cabs. For this reason, Sharp said it’s vital that clean air is provided in the taxis to minimise the spread of airborne infectious substances.

At the same time, passengers can enjoy some peace of mind knowing that they can reach their destination in a safe and hygienic fashion.

Sharp claims that their air purifiers have been proven to be effective in research settings. According to a joint study by the company and private medical research facility Kitasato Institute in 2004, the Plasmacluster technology can significantly reduce the infectiousness of bacteria and viruses in the air. It can, for example, inhibit the avian influenza A (H7N9) virus by up to 99% in approximately 47 minutes. And it reportedly does this by dispensing safe positive and negative ions, which bond and react with the surfaces of airborne viruses before ultimately breaking them down.

Credit: Sharp

In a separate study conducted recently in Japan, Sharp’s Plasmacluster technology was shown to reduce more than 90% of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in 30 seconds, which makes it a possible solution in trying to prevent transmissions in taxis.

---

Written by Kyle Chua