Sale of air purifiers on the rise as pollution grips city

Smog-hit Delhi sees a huge surge in sales of air cleaning products, but lax regulation is letting slip sub-standard products.

Sales of air purifiers are booming as citizens attempt to protect themselves from the lung-choking smog that plagues many of the country’s metropolitan cities. However, there have been concerns raised over the lack of regulation in this lucrative market. “There is no industry standard,” said a Delhi-based Non-Profit Organisation, Center for Science and Environment (CSE).

According to the CSE, some companies that produce air purifiers are inaccurately describing the capabilities of their products and in the absence of a proper quality control body they are hitting the market with their incompetent products to purify the bad air quality.

This is echoed by noted doctor T K Joshi, consultant in Occupational and Environmental Health, Lok Nayak Jay Prakash Hospital (LNJP). “Incorporating a high-quality air purifier is not a bad idea but to purchase one is very difficult when the market is flooded with the sub-stranded air-cleaning products,” Dr Joshi said.

Dr Joshi said: “Ozone in excessively high levels can cause breathing trouble, but the part that is never mentioned is the air-purifier.”

“Most of the countries have adopted a regulation to limit the Ozone emissions from indoor air cleaning devices. Many manufacturers have submitted test results and obtained certification of their air cleaning devices as required under the regulation which are not being followed by the Indian authorities,” he said. 

Electronic and general stores in Delhi have confirmed that there is a significant rise in the sale of air purifiers.

This is amplified by Anurag Bansal, a dealer of Smart Air, a company that sells air purifiers. “It’s very clear that things get kind of crazy whenever the air pollution gets bad”. He added, “Our sale is doubled nowadays as the air is really bad in Delhi.”

The purifiers range between Rs 1,400 for smaller spaces like cars, kitchens and office cabins to around Rs 15,000 to kit a bedroom and Rs 25,000 for a larger room.

“People will put their trust and money into something and it may not be justified. It is not just at the lower end of the market,” Anumita Roychowdhuri, of CSE said. “We see some very expensive systems and they are either employed incorrectly or are just flat out ineffective,” she added.