South Devon-based Alert Technology has begun making the world’s first portable real-time warning device for airborne asbestos, with help from the Enterprise Europe Network. The EEN (www.enterprise-europe.co.uk) provides support for small and medium-size enterprises with international ambitions; it is co-funded by the European Union’s COSME and Horizon 2020 programmes, and it is active in more than 60 countries world-wide.

After a decade of academic and commercial development, Alert Technology unveiled its new product — the Alert Pro 1000 — last September at the Contamination Expo in Birmingham, and it won the Asbestos Award for its potential in detecting asbestos fibres released into the air.

The ultra-sensitive laser-beam technology eliminates costly project delays for contractors engaged in asbestos removal and remediation, but the biggest selling point is safety.

Paignton-based Alert Technology has 30 ‘early adopter’ customers that will help to refine the product, ahead of a wider market launch later this year. The firm has a number of distributors covering the UK, France, Switzerland, the Netherlands (Benelux), Sweden and Japan, with Australia a firm target too.

Carried in a robust yellow case and with a list price of £10,000, the Alert Pro 1000 uses complex algorithms that recognise asbestos fibres from the way they respond when exposed to a magnetic field. It is the only real-time warning device that can test for all the most common forms of asbestos. It captures data at around 600 particles per sec and can distinguish asbestos from other fibres in the air.