Delhi air pollution: Should you even consider buying air purifiers? Senior Indian doctor explains risks

As the air quality in India's capital New Delhi and surrounding regions remain severe due to pollution, people lean towards buying air purifiers that can be very expensive also. Air purifier companies give assurances that they can effectively filter out the toxin pollutants from the air. The companies also say that it can trap and remove fungi, dust mites, mould spores, and certain types of bacteria also.

Demandhave increased recently, but should we consider buying it? To know the details, WION spoke toDr Arvind Kumar, who is thechairman of the institute of chest surgery- chest Onco Surgery and lung transplantation at Medantahospital in Gurugram.

Dr Kumar said that air pollution is a "public problem". A problem which impacts 1.38 billion people in the nation, but the air purifier is a "personal or a private solution".

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The air purifier is a system that sucks in the air, which is later released after being filtered. It works just like an air conditioner. The windows, doors, and vents are supposed to be closed at all times to make the air purifiers efficient. It has to be a sealed closed room.

You should have an air purifier with the capacity to handle the volume of air in your room. The filter is a mechanical process and if you have very high levels of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), the filter gets blocked. PM2.5 are tiny particles in the air that reduce visibility and cause the air to appear hazy when levels are elevated.

Air purifier canbecomean 'air dirtifyer'

Dr Kumar mentioned that the filter of an air purifier needs to be cleaned or changed at frequent intervals. But 99.9% of people are not told and do not do it.He noted that in several cases, this "air purifier" becomes an "air dirtifyer".

Dr Kumar asked, can you remain locked inside a sealed room 24//7? Can the entire Indian population be locked inside rooms fitted with air purifiers? He said that if the answer is yes, then an air purifier is a solution, otherwise no.

He concluded by saying that the solution is to "strike at the sources of air pollution, preventing the air from getting polluted".

"The use of face masks, smog towers, etc are only cosmetic solutions. They serve no purpose as far as the masses are concerned," he added.

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