While our lungs battle for clean air in increasingly smoggy cities, people are turning to wearable or portable anti-pollution gadgets, besides the traditional air purifiers. These easy to carry anti-pollution gadgets and air purifiers are flying off the shelves, with companies charting significant growth in their sales, especially in cities like Delhi/NCR and Mumbai besides other metros.
While air purifiers are widely popular, wearable gadgets are comparatively newer entries in the Indian market.
Brands such as NewDru, Attovio, OxyHalo are among those offering wearable air purifiers, while pocket air monitors are available from Prana, Smiledrive, Inkbyrd and others. Another unique anti-pollution product now available in the Indian market is the electric and chargeable anti-pollution face mask, being made by Xiaomi, Prana, Furper India and Philips. These electric masks are priced between Rs 2,999 and Rs 6,999.
Shift from Living Rooms to Lanyards
Consumer firm Dyson also has a wearable air purifier that has been available in India since 2023. The Dyson Zone is a pair of headphones with an attachable air purifier that fits around the face, priced at Rs 59,900.
Portable air quality monitors start at Rs 1,699 for the wearable variety from Oxyhola, and go up to nearly Rs 6,000 for the regular portable ones. Portable humidifiers from companies like Xengva are priced starting at Rs 250.
As per Amazon India, the sale of air purifiers has seen significant increase across the country, a trend Eureka Forbes, another home appliances company, also attests to. Amazon shared that as per their records, Delhi/NCR charted the highest demand in air purifiers. “Delhi-NCR is showing a 20X uptick compared to a normal day,” said KN Srikanth, director, home, kitchen and outdoors, Amazon India, speaking of post-Diwali and winter sales from the platform. He added, “We are also witnessing a 2.5X rise in Mumbai and Kolkata. Additionally, there has been an increase in demand from Tier 2 cities like Jaipur, Lucknow and Patna, which indicates growing consumer awareness around indoor air quality. This suggests air purifiers are increasingly being viewed as a practical purchase rather than a luxury item.”
A spokesperson for e-tailer Flipkart revealed they have charted the highest number of consumers from Delhi. “On Flipkart, demand for air purifiers in Delhi NCR surged 8X just after Diwali,” said the spokesperson. Anurag Kumar, chief growth officer, Eureka Forbes, sees the same pattern at their company. “Based on our estimates, air purifiers remain among the top-selling seasonal electronic categories, with the highest sales coming from Delhi-NCR, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra — regions where air quality levels tend to deteriorate most during this period,” he said. Kumar shared that premium variants that include AI mode for automatic adjustment based on pollution levels, ambient light sensing, sleep mode, child lock, and adjustable fan speeds with timer control are also popular. These are priced around Rs 20,000.
Dr Sagar Shrivastava, a respiratory medicine specialist, Kailash Hospital, Greater Noida, agreed with the growing need for air purifiers in every household. “The deterioration of the air quality in cities has tipped the scales of air purifiers from being a luxury to a must-have item. For asthma and lung patients, air purifiers are a must.”
Dr Nilesh Sonawane, consultant pulmonologist, Apollo Clinic, Nigdi, Pune, explained: “Urban activities like stagnant traffic, burning biomass fuels and construction create PM 2.5 (referring to the size of the particulate matter in the air) and PM 10 in the air. The colder air near the surface is trapped during winter season, concentrating these particles in the air we breathe. PM 2.5 are much more harmful as they reach deep in the lungs and can trigger bronchospasms and cough.”
Combatting ‘Invisibly Small’ Killers
Experts are also of the opinion that lung cancer is now increasingly being caused by environmental factors like air pollution, and not just from factors like smoking. Dr Radheshyam Naik, head of medical oncology, haematology and bone marrow transplantation at Sammprada Hospital, Bengaluru, said, “About 10% of all cases of lung cancers are caused by environmental factors such as air pollution. Recent research also shows that breathing polluted air for long periods increases the chance of getting lung cancer.”
The 2025 Lancet Countdown Report, which tracks the health impact of climate change globally, in its report on air quality revealed that in 2022 alone, India saw 1.7 million deaths due to atmospheric pollution. About 44% of these deaths were due to harmful emissions and burning of fossil fuels, according to the report.
