US embassy resorts to air purifier to get respite from Delhi's pollution

NEW DELHI, INDIA: Suffering from a fever, sore throat or runny nose? The chances are it may not just be the nasty cold or flu bug you fear, but also the result of the severe air pollution that plagues many of India’s big cities.

In Delhi, the U.S. Embassy, which monitors air quality around the embassy buildings and issues daily updates, became so concerned about the high levels of air pollution that prior to the recent arrival of President Barrack Obama it purchased over 1,800 high-performance portable Blueair indoor air purifiers to protect employees at the embassy and other locations.

On Tuesday this week, the American embassy’s monitoring station recorded an Air Quality Index reading of 222, a level the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) describes as ‘very unhealthy’. The EPA says such air pollution levels can cause "significant aggravation of heart or lung disease and… a significant increase in respiratory effects in the general population."

“Blueair air purifier’s may also help protect users against virus’s such as H1N1 (Swine Flu) because they are designed to trap polluting airborne particles such as PM2.5 dust, viruses, bacteria, asthma triggers and other contaminants such as VOC’s,” says Vijay Kannan, head of Blueair India, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sweden’s Blueair AB.

Blueair India was recently established by Swedish-based Blueair AB to market it’s indoor air purifiers across India.

“Our unique particle filters trap viruses using HepaSilent technology uniquely combining electrostatic and mechanical filtration that have made a Blueair the air purifier of choice for many medical doctors,” said he.