Image by Johannes Plenio from Pixabay

4 Ways to Keep Safe This Smog Season

Juggernaut Books
Nov 3 · 5 min read

The air pollution levels are going higher and higher. So many cities in north India suffer from terrible air pollution through most of November due to the aftermath of crackers burst during Diwali and stubble burning in the farms.

Kamal Meattle, India’s top air pollution solutions provider, in his book How to Grow Fresh Air has given practical advice and guidance on cleaning the air in our homes. Here are the four steps from the book that you must follow if you live in an Indian metro:

Step 1: Declutter and Clean

Air pollution at home has two key factors: outdoor air seeping in with its bag of pollutants and indoor elements that add to the polluted air. The first step to a clean home is, well, to clean it thoroughly and do a good job of it! It’s important to regularly clean our living spaces. Dusting, sweeping, mopping and vacuuming must be done daily. And don’t forget your curtains and upholstered furniture too. Next is declutter, because less stuff means less pollution. The fewer things you own, the lower your VOCs. And the lower the VOCs in your homes, the lesser the pollution and the better your health will be.

Image by Becca Clark from Pixabay

Step 2: Invest in a Good Air Purifier

Does it make sense to buy an air purifier? What’s the point of breathing clean air for eight hours and then going outdoors where I am breathing unclean air once again?

Asking this question is like asking is it better for a smoker, who can’t quit, to smoke two or ten cigarettes a day? Giving your lungs even eight to ten hours of much-needed clean air makes them stronger and better equipped to bear the onslaught of air pollution when you step outdoors.

Our homes have different kinds of pollutants — such as PM, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone and hydrogen sulphide — that need to be removed. So we should ideally look for an air purifier with passive filtration technology that will trap these particulates and toxic gases in the filters and release clean air.

There are many elements that are important in an air purifier. But the first thing one should look at is the amount of air that comes through the machine at an acceptable speed. Mostly brands advertise the Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR) based on the highest speed setting. But at that speed it is really loud. The ideal parameters and specs should be:

CADR at different speeds: at a medium speed, where the noise level is acceptable, it should be able to provide for at least two air changes per hour — this can be calculated by measuring the volume of air of the room and dividing by the CADR at medium speed. The answer should be 2 or more.
HEPA filter quality: a good quality HEPA filter — this term is unfortunately used loosely. A true HEPA filter should be of H12 or H13 grade.
Carbon filter: a good quality broad spectrum carbon filter, weighing at least 500 gram or more.
Noise levels: of below 50dB, at medium speed, should be acceptable
Pre-filter: a decent washable pre-filter that can take care of the larger particles.
Indicators for filter change: something that takes into consideration the quality of air and the speed at which the machine is running and not just the amount of time the machine has run.
Air quality indicator: this is not required. In fact, a sensor on a machine gives the reading of air near the machine, which is invariably cleaner than that at the other end of the room and hence a sense of false security. A sensor in a bedroom should be placed close to the bed and not on the machine. A separate sensor is useful.

Step 3: Sealing and Ventilation

Once you’ve bought a good air purifier and installed it, there are two important aspects to look into so as to ensure you are using it effectively. These are sealing and ventilating your home. It may sound simple, but the more you think about it, you realize it’s a chicken-and- egg problem.

If you open your house to the elements, you’ll bring in bad air, but if you keep it shut all day, you’ll grow more bad air. Why? Because most air purifiers don’t clean the air for carbon dioxide and as long as we are in the room, these levels will keep going up because we breathe it out all the time. So at some point, you will have to open your windows to let in fresh air.

Keep your windows and doors shut: When using an air purifier.
Open all your windows and doors: In the afternoon, between 1 and 3 p.m. In highly polluted cities like Delhi, Gwalior or Kanpur, this is the right time to ventilate — this is when pollution and especially PM 2.5 is at its lowest because it is warmest in the afternoon.

Step 4: Indoor Plants that Give Fresh Air

Did you know that of we had to create oxygen, it would cost us 38 trillion US dollars to manufacture it? Plants do it for free. Indoor plants remove pollutants from the air by absorbing harmful gases through their leaves and roots. The microorganisms that live in the soil of potted plants also play an instrumental role in neutralizing VOCs and other pollutants.

Some of the most effective plants against air pollution are easily available, and when they are placed around the house they can bring down the level of toxins that roam freely inside our homes. Money plant (Epipremnum aureum), Areca palm (Dypsis lutescens) and Mother-in-law’s tongue or snake plant (Sansevieria trifasciata) are three plants that are very effective at removing indoor pollutants.

However, to get a supply of fresh air from plants, you require a lot of plants in your house. Use plants as a supplement to your air purifying solutions. Have as many as you can, and as many as you deem aesthetically appropriate for your living spaces.

Learn more about how to breathe clean air here.

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