65% doctors question the efficacy of air purifiers

New Delhi, November 12, 2016: Whether it was because of bursting crackers on Diwali or stubble burning in neighbouring states, Delhi is covered in a blanket of worst ever smog. Visibility on the streets has reduced considerably and children are affected the most. In midst of all this sales of air purifiers have shot up in the state. Even government of Delhi has installed units of air purifiers around the city to maintain air quality. But in a heavily polluted city like Delhi, efficacy of air purifiers is questionable.

To understand better, Curofy – India’s largest community of verified doctors conducted a poll asking doctors if air purifiers are effective in a heavily polluted city like Delhi. A total of 1580 doctors responded to the poll. Out of those who responded, 1030 or 65.1% said that air purifiers cannot save the day. In the absence of research and peer reviewed studies one cannot say how much an air purifier can help really.

Dr. Manoj Goel, Director and HOD, Department Of Pulmonology and Sleep Medicine, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurga on said, “Air Purifiers are for indoor pollution, which is more prevalent in western countries. In our country outdoor pollution is the major concern, so air purifiers will not be of much use.”

While air purifiers are effective against particulate and smoke in a limited area, there are no researches to prove their efficacy in heavily polluted area like Delhi. They are more like a band aid approach to the save our lungs, useful till we are inside our homes but ineffective to clean the whole city.

Only 550 or 34.8% doctors said air purifiers can be effective.

Dr. Arup Basu,Senior consultant, Chest medicine, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital said, “Air purifiers do not have any proven value as such. They will be effective in sealed house. We may also use hepa filters that are used in the industry. But outside our homes their efficacy is questionable.”

So, while most of the doctors don’t endorse air purifiers completely, their usefulness within the walls of our homes can’t be denied.

Commenting on this Pawan Gupta, co-founder Curofy said, ” Pollution is Delhi is at it’s all time high and people are doing anything they can to save their lungs like buying air purifiers and masks. In such situations it is important to know the usefulness of these actions and we tried to understand the same with this poll.”

Corporate Comm India(CCI Newswire)