What the air freshener, agarbatti, new furniture, and sealed AC room are doing to your lungs — and what you can do about it, without buying anything expensive.
(With Inputs from Air Quality Expert Abhinav Gupta)
India is the third most polluted country in the world. But the air causing the most daily damage to your health may not be only the outside one. It may be right where you are sitting now.
Studies consistently show that urban Indians spend a lot of their time indoors — and that indoor air can carry pollutant concentrations two to five times higher than outdoor air. The sources are not dramatic: they are the products you spray, the furniture you bought, the room you sealed, and the AC you left running all night.
01 — THE BIG MYTH
Your AC Is Not Bringing In Fresh Air
Let's start with the most widespread misconception about indoor air in India. Most ACs — found in virtually every urban home and office — simply recirculate the same indoor air through a filter. They cool it. They don't replace it.
Carbon dioxide in fresh outdoor air sits at around 415 ppm. In continuously air-conditioned Indian offices, classrooms, and sealed apartments, CO₂ routinely reaches 2,000 ppm or more. That number matters more than most people realise.
What elevated CO₂ actually does to you: A 2021 multicountry Harvard study (Cedeño Laurent et al., Environmental Research Letters) monitored 300+ office workers across China, India, Mexico, Thailand, the UK, and the US in real time. For every 500 ppm rise in CO₂, cognitive response times slowed 1.4–1.8% and task throughput fell 2.1–2.4%. A 2023 meta-analysis (ScienceDirect) confirmed that CO₂ above 1,000–1,500 ppm significantly impairs complex decision-making, with prolonged exposure making effects worse.
Gyms are worth singling out here. During vigorous exercise, a person inhales up to 90 litres of air per minute — about 18 times the resting rate. If you feel unusually exhausted after workouts that don't match the effort you put in, look at the air before you blame your fitness.
WHAT ACTUALLY HELPS
Open windows for 10–15 minutes morning and evening, as AQI is often better in early morning.
02 — WHAT YOU'RE SPRAYING
Air Fresheners: A Hidden Daily Hazard
Think about what you reach for when a room smells stale — a plug-in, a spray, a gel disc in the bathroom, a little tree hanging in the car. These products are among the most systematically underestimated sources of indoor air pollution, and they are in almost every Indian home.
A landmark analysis by Prof. Anne Steinemann at the University of Melbourne found that fragranced consumer products collectively emit over 550 volatile organic compounds (VOCs), of which more than 230 were classified as toxic or hazardous under US federal law — including benzene, formaldehyde, toluene, and xylenes. Fewer than 3% of these were disclosed on product labels.
Benzene and Formaldehyde is IARC Group 1 carcinogen. Phthalates, used as fragrance carriers, are endocrine disruptors linked to hormonal imbalance.
💡 The smell is not clean air. The scent of lavender or lemon doesn't indicate cleaner air — it indicates additional synthetic chemicals. The idea that a fragrant room is a healthy room is one of the most effective marketing myths of the last 30 years.
WHAT ABOUT AGARBATTI?
Burning incense of any kind produces PM2.5, VOCs, carbon monoxide etc. Research from Singapore linked regular incense use to a 12% increase in cardiovascular mortality.
That said, agarbatti is not the same thing as a chemical air freshener. It comes from plant material, not petroleum chemistry. Between the two, incense in a ventilated space is the lesser harm — though neither should be used for odour control. If you burn agarbatti for religious or cultural reasons, do so near an open window, keep sessions short, and prefer natural or resin-based stick varieties over cones, which emit more. The safest odour control remains: find and fix the source, then use ventilation.
03 — YOUR NEW FURNITURE
Why That New Office Makes Your Eyes Water
If you have moved into a freshly renovated office or brought home new furniture and noticed persistent eye watering, a mild burning sensation in the nose or throat, or headaches that ease on weekends — this is a known phenomenon.
Formaldehyde is used as an adhesive resin in pressed wood products: particleboard, plywood, MDF, and laminates — the backbone of most Indian office furniture, kitchen cabinetry, and budget home furnishings.
The good news: off-gassing peaks when products are new and reduces substantially over the period. When buying furniture, look for NAF (no added formaldehyde), ULEF (ultra-low emitting formaldehyde), Greenguard Gold, or CARB Phase 2 certification. Air new pieces outdoors for three to seven days before bringing them inside. After any renovation, ventilate the space aggressively for at least two weeks.
One thing rarely mentioned in purifier marketing: a standard HEPA purifier won't help with formaldehyde. HEPA captures particles but not gases. For formaldehyde and VOCs, you need an activated carbon filter alongside HEPA.
04 — HUMIDITY & MOULD
The Smell You've Probably Learned to Ignore
India's climate — especially in Mumbai, Chennai, Kochi, and across the country during monsoon season — creates near-perfect conditions for mould. Most of us have learned to live with a certain background mustiness. We probably shouldn't.
Mould releases spores and mycotoxins linked to nasal congestion, coughing, asthma triggers etc. In 2025, this became a global conversation when Dr. Jordan Peterson — the Canadian psychologist — was hospitalised for pneumonia and sepsis following chronic mould exposure. His daughter Mikhaila Peterson called publicly for building codes to mandate Energy Recovery Ventilators in HVAC systems. While the specific diagnosis (Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome) remains debated in mainstream medicine, the undisputed core message is this: mould causes measurable respiratory harm, particularly in children, the elderly, and those with existing conditions.
Watch for these warning signs: Any persistent musty smell in a closed room is a warning, even without visible mould. Check behind furniture against exterior walls, under sinks, around window frames, and inside bathroom ceilings. White salt deposits on walls or peeling paint often signal moisture problems — and hidden mould — behind the surface.
Fix leaks promptly. Ventilate bathrooms actively during and after use. A bathroom exhaust fan is not a luxury — it is a basic indoor air requirement.
05 — YOUR AIR PURIFIER
You're Probably Using It Wrong
Air purifiers have become as common in urban Indian homes as water purifiers. They are genuinely useful — but they are frequently used in ways that make them nearly pointless.
A HEPA purifier requires approximately 30–60 minutes to meaningfully reduce particulate levels across a room. Switching it on five minutes before sleep and then turning it off does almost nothing.
Two things to understand clearly: a purifier cannot reduce CO₂ — that requires ventilation. And a standard HEPA unit does nothing for gases. For formaldehyde, benzene, and VOCs from air fresheners, you need an activated carbon layer as well as HEPA.
🛠 A budget alternative — the Corsi-Rosenthal Box: Designed by Dr. Richard Corsi (UC Davis, environmental engineer) and Jim Rosenthal (CEO of Tex-Air Filters and past president of the National Air Filtration Association), the CR Box is a DIY purifier made from four MERV-13 filters taped to a box fan. A 2022 UC Davis study found its Clean Air Delivery Rate to be 600–850 cubic feet per minute — comparable to commercial purifiers costing ten times as much. Cost to build in India: approximately ₹4,000–₹8,000.
06 — ACTION PLAN
10 Things You Can Do Starting Today
None of these require a specialist. Most cost nothing.
01 Ventilate daily. Open windows for 15 minutes morning and evening. Check AQI first on Safar-Air or IQAir. This single step has the strongest and most consistent evidence behind it.
02 Stop using chemical air fresheners. Remove plug-ins, sprays, and gel blocks. They continuously emit benzene, formaldehyde, and phthalates. Replace with ventilation, activated charcoal, or baking soda.
03 Use agarbatti thoughtfully. Near an open window, in short sessions, with natural or resin-based stick varieties. Never as a substitute for odour control. Between incense and a chemical freshener, incense wins — but neither is truly good.
04 Buy low-VOC furniture. Look for NAF, ULEF, Greenguard Gold, or CARB Phase 2 labelling. Air new pieces outdoors for three to seven days before bringing them inside.
05 Control humidity. Keep indoor levels between 40–60%. Fix all leaks promptly.
06 Run your purifier correctly. One hour minimum before sleep. Ensure it has an activated carbon layer alongside HEPA — without carbon, it won't touch gases.
07 Ask questions at your gym. Find out if CO₂ is monitored and when the HVAC was last serviced. Avoid peak-density sessions in small sealed studios. You are breathing 18 times faster than at rest.
09 Take mould seriously. A musty smell is a signal worth following, even without visible growth. Remediate it, fix the moisture source, and ventilate. A bathroom exhaust fan is not optional.
10 Reduce indoor combustion. Run your kitchen exhaust fan during all cooking. Switching to induction for daily use is the next step but big step.
"You cannot control what's outside your window. You have almost complete control over what's inside your room."
India's outdoor air pollution crisis is real and urgent. But the indoor air crisis — while different in character — is equally real, far less visible, and almost entirely unaddressed. The good news is that unlike outdoor pollution, where the individual is largely powerless, indoor air quality is substantially within your control.
Not through expensive devices alone, but through understanding what is in your home, what you are burning, what off-gasses from your furniture, and what happens when you seal a room and breathe in it for eight hours. Your home should be your refuge. Making the air in it earn that name is one of the most worthwhile things you can do for your health and your family's.
