This IIT-Delhi Startup’s Innovation Tackles Air Pollution for Just Rs 10! 

Nanoclean was awarded the National Startups Award by former President Pranab Mukherjee in 2017, recognized among the top 25 technical startups from over 118 countries by the Republic of Korea and selected among Top 100 Startups in the World by the Hong Kong government, making it the only Indian startup to achieve this feat.

Did you know air pollution kills an estimated seven million people worldwide every year? According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) data, nine out of 10 people breathe air containing high levels of pollutants.

Closer home, in June 2019, a report by an environmental organization, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), stipulated that life expectancy in India has gone down by 2.6 years due to the deadly diseases caused by air pollution. The third highest cause of death, ranking just above smoking in India, is the combined effect of outdoor particulate matter (PM) 2.5, ozone and household air pollution. 

But what if we told you that a low-cost invisible nasal filter that sticks on your nasal orifice could prevent dust and air pollutants, especially PM 2.5 from entering your system?

Meet Prateek Sharma, an IIT-Delhi alumnus who with a dream team consisting of fellow IIITians, Tushar Vyas and Jatin Kewlani, supported by faculty members, Prof Ashwini Agrawal and Prof Manjeet Jassal, established award-winning startup, Nanoclean Global Private Limited. A startup that has been developing low-cost preventive measures for polluted air and innovations for air filtration.

Nanoclean was awarded the National Startups Award by former President Pranab Mukherjee in 2017, recognised among the top 25 technical startups from over 118 countries by the Republic of Korea and selected among Top 100 Startups in the World by the Hong Kong government, making it the only Indian startup to achieve this feat.

Who is Prateek Sharma? 

Born in Jaipur and raised in Bikaner, Rajasthan, Prateek Sharma had grown up watching his own mother, an asthmatic, struggle with both indoor and outdoor pollution and sand storms, a common phenomenon in the desert state.

“It ached me to always see her cover her mouth with a dupatta when she walked outside. Growing up, I would either alter existing masks in the markets or gift her different types of equipment like nose-insertion buds. But nothing seemed to work. She refused to wear a mask stating that people would think she is sick if she stepped out with it and the nose-insertion buds created a lot of discomfort.”

Today, the innovative nasal filter that his team has developed, christened ‘Nasofilter’, costing close to Rs 10 a piece, is protecting people in 30 countries against air pollutants.

What is Nasofilter?

Launched as one of the first commercial products by the startup which was incubated at IIT-Delhi, it is a respiratory filter that restricts the entry of dust and tiny suspended particulate matter from entering your system while breathing.

Particulate matter refers to the microscopic solid particles and liquid droplets floating in the atmosphere. Fine (PM2.5) and coarse (PM10) particles are considered to be the most hazardous pollutants.

Nasofilter uses nanotechnology to create nanofibres by reducing the thread diameter of a normal fabric by 100 times, creating millions of pores in a tiny area to filter out pollutants.

The resulting device can combat 90 per cent PM2.5 and 95 per cent PM10 particles.

What is its USP?

It is small and easy to wear biodegradable polymer. In stark contrast to large traditional face masks, it is a transparent filter that covers your nostrils, is invisible from a distance and can be worn for up to 24 hours.

• It filters out PM2.5 and other air pollutants
• Does not restrict breathing or speaking
• It is also one of the cheapest options available in the market.
• The team was able to successfully patent the technology behind the innovation two months ago.
• Another product that the founders worked on is aimed to combat indoor air pollution. This refers to the Nanoclean AC filters.

Costing as low as Rs 400, this device has been designed to complement existing filtering screens of wall-mounted air conditioners. Simply put, it converts your AC into an air purifier at no recurring electricity cost, using nanotechnology.

It removes PM2.5 and other Micro-Particle pollutants from the air inside homes while cooling it at an affordable cost.

Features:

• It can purify the air from various pollutants such as PM 2.5, dust, allergens, etc inside a room by 90 per cent within the short span of one hour
• It is compatible with both window & split ACs
• It has no recurrent electricity costs
• It does not affect cooling or increase power consumption.
• It is easy to install and you change its filter by yourself.
• Even though one filter can last for two months, for best results, it is recommended to change it every month.

Indoor air pollution is considered 10 times worse than outdoor air pollution due to the potential of contained spaces to allow pollutants to build up more in our system than open spaces. And while major cases are often seen in rural areas owing to the use of chulhas and firewood, indoor pollution is also witnessing a steady rise in leading cities.