New Delhi is the most polluted city in the world. It is unclear that any of the measures being undertaken by the government to tackle the sources of air pollution in the city in winter, when the pollution is at its peak, are of much effect. Surprisingly, there are no home grown companies that make innovative, effective, cheap, popular air pollution masks for the general population, despite the city being host to the famous Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.

This is a problem in the “design” space. We need a better designed anti-pollution mask.

The problem with the classical N-95 mask is that it traps the air you breathe out, containing carbon dioxide, between the mask and the nose and mouth, which gives one a headache after some time. It also covers the whole lower face, making it unstylish, making people not want to use it. And the overall texture of the current generation of masks is not very becoming. As of this writing, there are some transparent face masks on the market, but these are unavailable on Amazon. There is an active (has a fan that pumps air into the mask) air pollution mask from Prana Air, (https://www.pranaair.com/in/air-mask/) except that it has poor reviews on Amazon for fit, comfort, and general quality, and is also expensive. But it’s a step in the right direction. One problem with these masks is that there is no clear guidance on when to discard them or replace the air filters. Ideally, the color of the mask should change when it’s time to discard it. Also, they don’t come with a “carry case” because one generally wears them outdoors and takes them off when one comes indoors, and then wants to wear them again when one goes outdoors.

We need a new generation of masks. Given the scale of the problem, the investment is worth the effort. One solution is a “respirator”, and these are available, but not readily for the general Indian market, which would be a silicone, ideally transparent mask which could have one or a pair of small, replaceable, inexpensive, filters that one is actually likely to replace every day. The filters should be readily available on the market. A high quality, well designed product, combined with sophisticated marketing (not – how to sell it, but – what would make people likely to buy it), could turn this into a blockbuster product.