I remember a time when having an air conditioner or a television set was a luxury for a middle class family. A time before that when having an Ambassador was a status symbol. The difference there was that they were non-essential objects that slowly became a necessity in our lives as the years moved on. They were, however, not life-saving.
The simple act of breathing is. And whether you are aware of it or not, if you live in any large city in India, the chances are your lungs are already taking in dangerous levels of toxic particulate matter every day.
What is the big deal about these particulate matters we breathe in?
As per the latest updates from the data collected by the Global Burden of Disease Project (GBD), the official statistics stand at 55 lakh premature deaths every year due to air pollution alone. Of those, 12 lakh who die, including small children exposed to this polluted air, are Indians. The GBD project placed air pollution as the 4th greatest risk of death, higher than malnutrition, obesity, alcohol and drugs.
You need to realize that unlike the matter itself which is tiny, the problems that arise from it are huge.
The number of Particulate matter per cubic meter (PM 2.5) that gets inhaled when you breathe in slowly settles down in the lungs over time. They impair your ability to breathe and deliver oxygen to the rest of your body, affect your heart and yes, over time, they do lead to cancer of the lungs. This number which should ideally be 25 can go as high as 300 on a bad day in Delhi.
With the increasing population density in large Indian cities, one of the biggest culprits behind air pollution remains traffic pollution. Stuck in the snail-paced crawl for hours, you are not protected from these particulate matter merely by passive methods like closing the windows and turning the air conditioner on, I fear.
Scarily, you may be exposing your family to 9-12 times higher pollution from inside the car, based on former UK goverment chief scientific advisor Professor Sir David King's damning reports.
And yet, we know we are at a stage where we cannot really live without traveling by car, whether it be dropping the children at school or going off to work. In such scenarios, you need to actively combat and filter out these air pollutants inside the car the same way you do for your drinking water.
So what is the solution?
Products like the Philips GoPure SlimLine 230 Car air purifier actively remove fine particles and toxic gases from inside, filtering the air within entirely in just 13 minutes.
The unique filtration tech by Philips removes particles like PM2.5 as well as toxins with a Clean Air Delivery Rate of 10m3/hour to ensure the safe health of your family.
The air purifier is designed to keep you not just healthy but relaxed and stress-free, as it operates automatically and allows you to focus on driving while also refreshing your air with a natural fragrance.
The air purifier removes dust, allergens, smoke, odours, bacteria and virus all while snugly fitting anywhere in your car with a diminutive weight of 800 gms.
Suitable for children, pregnant women, allergy sufferers, asthma patients and owners of pets, it does more than filter, of course. It also senses the air-particles around you and gives you updated indicators on the quality.
That blue colour indicates 'Excellent' air quality
We are a long way away from undoing the calamitous air we have wrought upon ourselves.
The long term damage done from air pollution is often catastrophic and irreversible. It is as devastating for a young child who has to suffer acute episodes of breathlessness growing up as it is for an elderly Indian who has worked so hard for the country for decades as you grew up only to be unable to take a deep breath anymore now that his lungs have weakened. We don't talk about it. But we should.
We have a responsibility to keep our loved ones safe. Earlier, we could cite ignorance as a reason not to care about air pollution and how it affects us. That excuse holds good no longer. Air pollution is here. It is affecting us each and every day, killing us silently from within.
Still not convinced?
These are the Air pollution levels in India on 16 August 2017.
You can check today's levels here
We can prevent air pollution from affecting us though.
Healthy air is not a luxury. It is a necessity.
The best time to invest in it was yesterday. The next best time... is now.
The Philips GoPure SlimLine 230 Air Purifier can be bought online here.
- August 22, 2017
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