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5 Air Pollution Myths You Shouldn’t Fall For

Busting myths about air purifiers that have gained acceptance over the years.

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Clean air is not only important, but essential to us all. However, some might say that clean air is not possible these days due to the constant degradation and air pollution. The cleanest environment, room, or air can still be filled with invisible and sometimes visible particles and dirt that could be detrimental to your health or even aggravate already existing health issues.

Over the years as people have become more and more aware of air quality and how it affects their health, air purifiers have become an increasing part of people’s lives. With that, though, there are a number of myths about air purifiers that have gained acceptance.

Myth 1: Air purifiers reduce immunity

On the contrary, more exposure to polluted air actually results in a decrease in immunity. When pollutants like PM2.5, dust, pollen, etc. penetrate your lungs, they cause irreversible damage resulting in health issues like Asthma, COPD, lung cancer, and other respiratory issues.

Use of air purifiers reduces the exposure of your lungs to these harmful pollutants and boosts your immunity rather than reducing it.

Myth 2: There is no pollution indoors

While the battle to curb ambient air pollution has been in the news for a long time, people still believe that there’s no air pollution in homes, offices and other indoor environments. But in reality, indoor pollution can be 2-5 times of outdoor pollution.

Whether it’s the outdoor pollution that enters and gets trapped due to low or no circulation inside, PM2.5 from indoor sources like candles, cooking, combustion, TVOCs from electronic gadgets and sprays or smoke from cooking or smoking, indoor pollutants are no less dangerous to health.

Myth 3: Air conditioners purify air

A lot of AC manufacturers have come out with commercials promising dust free or pure air. But can they really purify the air in the metros in India? Truth is that most ACs available in the Indian market today come with only a pre-filter that can merely remove large dust particles, but don’t have the technology to remove TVOCs and gaseous pollutants like NOx, SO2, benzene and ozone. Neither can they remove the harmful PM2.5 pollutant.

Leading air purifiers like Philips Air Purifier come with a three-way filtration process with pre-filter to remove dust, pet dander and large pollutants; activated carbon filter to remove TVOCs, harmful gases and fumes; and a HEPA filter to remove PM2.5, bacteria, virus and other ultrafine pollutants.

Myth 4: Air pollution doesn’t impact me

If you happen to live in polluted cities of India like Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Kanpur, Ludhiana, air pollution levels ensure that you are smoking 7-10 cigarettes per day on an average. This may or may not show immediate impacts on health but is damaging your lungs slowly.

Cases of Asthma, COPD, lung cancer and other irreversible respiratory issues are increasing every year, and doctors fear that air pollution is the key reason for this trend. Using an Air purifier will reduce your exposure to harmful pollutants and better your health.

Myth 5: Air purifiers are expensive

Granted Air purifiers started as expensive solutions a decade ago. Over the years, leading brands like Philips have innovated and launched reasonably priced, efficient solutions that remove the smallest pollutants from your home to keep you safe and healthy. Listen to a Philips Air purifier user talk about why it has become a necessity to safeguard yourself from the ill-effects of air pollution and lead a healthy life!

Air purifiers are especially important in houses because they quickly and quietly clear allergens and other particles, effectively remove odor, pollen, smoke, dust, pet dander, and almost all other pollutants present in the air. Without an air purifier, your house could collect lots of dust and germs, which could lead to health problems. You can buy a Philips Air Purifier here.

(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)

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