Purifier sales skyrocket amidst undefeatable smog

The hazardous air in one of the country’s most populated cities seems invincible at the moment causing respiratory diseases, school and office closures, and an outrage on the government’s lack of strategy to combat it.

Lahore’s residents, in true taking matters into one’s own hand fashion, have flocked towards buying air purifiers to escape the ordeal. The device which is primarily used indoors helps in removing contaminants from the air to improve air quality is currently retailing for anywhere between Rs 2,000 to 125,000.

Malik Adnan Rasheed, a trader and importer from Shah Alam Market, while talking to the Express Tribune, remarked that he has never witnessed such a high demand for air purifiers in his time in business. “A good quality air purifier sanitizes the air in a 30 square foot room in two hours,” he informed.

However, the catch is that with the upsurge in demand the markets of Punjab’s capital are now flooded with substandard and smuggled purifiers. “Smugglers are taking advantage of the situation by selling low quality equipment which essentially does nothing,” Rasheed said.

One such consumer who was duped into buying a second-rate purifier is Bushra Shiraz, a beauty salon owner in Lahore. “I bought an air purifier for Rs 7,000 nearly two weeks ago after the shopkeeper told me it was the best one in the market right now. The device stopped working after a few days and now I have to cough up Rs 30,000 on a foreign-made one,” Shiraz lamented.

Muhammad Arshad, a resident of the city, whose children are suffering from smog-induced illness, has been on the hunt for an air purifier for a few days. “I have visited different markets and there are dozens of brands but finding a good device at a reasonable price is difficult,” he said. An irate Arshad opined that if the negligent government could not control smog it should at least do a better job at regulating the types of products circulating in the market. “The government should set standards for air purifiers through the Pakistan Standards Quality Control Authority,” he suggested.

However, availability of air purifiers is not an issue but the price definitely is, as per Ali Arshad Cheema, the manager of a departmental store in an upscale area of Lahore. “Excellent equipment is available all over the city but the prices are jacked up and beyond the average buyer’s reach due to the high cost of importing air purifiers,” Cheema explained.

Despite the high demand for the air cleaning devices there is little evidence to suggest that they can combat smog related air pollution. Dr Afzal, a chest and respiratory pathologist based in the provincial capital, despondently remarked that the current level of smog could not be combated with just an air purifier. “Presently there is a growing misconception amongst people that the use of air purifiers can curtail smog. The most effective way to avoid breathing in this hazardous air is using masks,” he told The Express Tribune.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 4^th, 2021.