Hold your breath: These start-ups are thriving on air pollution

The country is going through a severe air pollution crisis, especially after Diwali – the air quality index has declined to an alarming stage in various parts of North India. In the past week, Delhi-NCR has been hit the most with the air pollution crisis. According to National Air Quality Index data, the quality of air in the region has been varying from ‘very poor’ to ‘severe’.

Pollution experts attribute the declining air quality to various reasons such as burning of agricultural waste, vehicular emissions, burning of crackers and factory emissions. “This is the worst smog with very poor visibility in 17 years and the Indira Gandhi International Airport recorded the worst levels of smog in 17 years on November 2, with visibility as low as 300-400 metres,” Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) on said citing a report of the India Meteorological Department. Riding high on innovation, startups have come with unique yet efficient solutions for the problem. Here are some startups that are minting money from air pollution crisis:

Smart Air India

Delhi-based Smart Air India is a clean-tech startup that promotes affordable air purifiers as a low-cost solution to indoor particulate matter air pollution in India, China and Mongolia. The company offers DIY (Do-it-yourself) air purifiers for as low as Rs 3,959 which is suitable for a 150 sq-ft room.

Vitality Air

You must have used packaged drinking water, but have you ever heard of canned air? Yes it’s true! Canada’s Vitality Air offers you fresh air in a can. Starting at USD 15 per can, the company offers portable canned air from the mountains in a 3 litre and 8 litre packing. The startup also offers flavoured oxygen that includes strawberry, grape and root Beer flavours.

Onmask

As the name suggests, the company offers face mask that protects you from airborne particles, dust, smoke, etc. These masks are re-usable and are made out of cotton. Available at all leading e-commerce platforms, such masks are affordable and are priced in the range of Rs 300 to Rs 500.

Graviky Lab

This Bangalore-based startup converts vehicular pollution into black ink called Air Ink. In order to produce this ink, the company captures vehicular emissions with help of their device Kaalink – a unit that retrofits to the exhaust of various engines. The captured pollutants are further purified to make several industrial processes to make different types of inks and paints.

Airveda

Airveda offers a portable laser-based air quality monitoring device. The device is connected to an app on your phone to help you know and manage the quality of air you are breathing. It offers a 6-hour battery life and can be charged using any USB power outlet. The device will cost you Rs 8,950.

Source: moneycontrol