What Happened to the Blue Skies in Delhi?
A thick pall of smog has become the norm in India's capital territory – here's how to deal with it.
April 11, 2017
A recent study by the World Health Organization (WHO) states that 1.3 million people in India die as a result of indoor air pollution. Moreover, one third of the world’s asthma patients are from India. That makes staying healthy outdoors and at home more important than ever.
Indoor air has a different composition from the air outside your home. Furnishings, cleaning agents, cooking, pets, and accumulated dust in enclosed spaces of our homes only further contribute to the indoor pollution problem.
Here are a few ways you can do to protect yourself inside your homes:
With space constraints, ventilation is a major problem with urban apartment homes. There is more to improving the ventilation in homes than just opening windows. Consider installing vents around the house to ensure proper air circulation to give you cleaner air to breathe indoors.
Keep the house dry
Utmost care must be taken to keep your living quarters clean and dry. In case you spot mold or mildew, immediately take measures to clean it and fix damp areas to prevent future growth. Consider using a portable dehumidifier to remove moisture from the air.
Get house plants
Certain houseplants such as English Ivy, Snake plant, Chrysanthemum, Peace Lily, and Lady Palm can help counter the impact of indoor pollution. Their foliage and roots absorb certain volatile organic compounds, but only to a certain extent. But who doesn’t love a home with lush plants throughout it.
Try an air purifier
To help fight the more dangerous forms of indoor air pollutants, Honeywell air purifiers (available in India) use an advanced three-stage filtration process to eliminate more than 99 percent of air pollutants, including PM2.5, pollen, bacteria, formaldehyde, toxic gases and odor – all of which are common in homes.