NEW
DELHI :
Air pollution in
New Delhi is so severe that even nonsmokers here inhale the equivalent of 50
cigarettes on an extreme day, turning the city of 25 million into what a local
political leader describes as "a gas chamber."
With smog
choking the city day after day since November, inhabitants of India's capital
are increasingly looking for ways to protect themselves.
Prateek Sharma
believes he has a solution.
The 25-year-old
chief executive's startup, Nanoclean Global, has developed a nasal filter that
can restrict the entry of harmful particles into the body -- at a cost of just
10 rupees (about 16 cents) each.
"We have
built this very unique [product] using nanotechnology," Sharma told the
Nikkei Asian Review in an interview.
Sold under the
name Nasofilters, the product is placed directly into the nostrils. The company
claims the filters can block 95% PM2.5 -- particulate matter 2.5 microns in
size or smaller and the most prominent pollutant in the city's air. PM2.5 is a
major cause of respiratory problems and heart ailments.
Sharma said his filter is different from other
antipollution products -- generally facemasks that use multiple layers of
filters.
When a particle
touches the outside barrier of these masks, it can collect in a filtering
layer. "After a few days you actually have to dispose it off -- despite
having bought it for hundreds of rupees -- because it chokes," he said.
The startup
began at the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology in New Delhi in 2015,
the year Sharma graduated. Sharma, who studied civil engineering, and two other
alumni -- Tushar Vyas and Jatin Kewlani -- co-founded the company, along with
support from some faculty members. It also has major financial backing from the
Indian government through grants from the Department of Science and Technology
and Department of Biotechnology. The company has raised nearly $400,000 in the
form of government grants and investment from IIT alumni, Sharma said.
https://asia.nikkei.com/magazine/20180125/Business/Indian-startup-has-a-fix-for-dirty-air-filters-up-the-nose
