In the face of alarming air quality deterioration across many cities in India, battling severe air pollution has become a daily affair for Indians. From working in hill stations to working from the confines of their homes, commuters and working professionals are finding multiple ways to tackle this threat. While some practices, such as workations from locations with better AQI, may work temporarily, we still need to combat this issue more comprehensively. With innovation in tech now also helping us in this fight against air pollution, we set out to list five great gadget options that can help you — be it while sitting at home, during your daily commute, or during a workation in the hills.
Wearable air purifiers
Anion neck-lanyard ionisers, also described as wearable negative-ion purifiers, are accessible purifiers and can help combat deteriorating AQI across the country. Specific models like Atovio Pebble Wearable Air Purifier and Uniro F5 Personal Wearable Air Purifier are popular options currently. Releasing streams of negative ions, these purifiers weigh down airborne dust, smoke and pollen in your immediate breathing zone. However, these are reportedly most effective indoors and may not serve as an immediate replacement for masks.
Powered air purifying masks
In the wake of the deteriorating air quality, powered air-purifying masks seem like the next best option to ensure further protection for breathing in regions that have smoke, fumes and major pollutants in the air. Unlike regular masks that use cloth materials or N95 masks, these masks often use built-in micro-fans that channel in ambient air in addition to a
couple of filtration layers, like a pre-filter and a HEPA/N95-grade filter or even an activated carbon layer to filter out ultra-fine particles.
Mini purifiers
Small-format purifiers may be in high demand soon, as many are choosing to travel to hill stations across the country amid high levels of smog and falling AQI. For such travels, you can use mini purifiers for compact rooms, which can be plugged into your personal devices.
Air-purifying helmets
For travellers who love their road trips on two-wheelers, here’s a good option for protection amid rising air pollution. Helmets, like the Shellios Puros Smart Helmet, use systems like HEPA filters to reduce toxic pollutant exposure and more.
Plant-based natural air purification
With heavy pollution on the rise, these are slowly becoming a unique and effective option. With entities like uBreathe and Airobreathpro1, these desktop bio-filtration planters reduce the reliance on disposable HEPA cartridges and instead use a combination of a houseplant’s root system and soil microbes with organic coco-carbon layers to trap toxins indoors.
