Traveling to heavily polluted city, what practical measures can I take to minimize impact?
I have an upcoming business trip to Gurugram (Gurgaon), a suburb of Delhi which holds the dubious distinction of being the most polluted city in the world.
As a traveller, what measures can I take to minimize the impact of pollution? Open to any practical options (portable devices, rental, hotels with reliable filtration systems), with a particular focus on my hotel and office, which I can control to some extent. Some caveats:
- I'll be holding talks, meeting customers etc during the day, so wearing masks is not feasible.
- I'm interested specifically in reducing particulate matter (PM2.5 etc), and would also like a way to measure their actual current concentration in hotel/office so I can judge both risk and effectiveness.
- I'm open to portable air purifiers, which are widely available on eBay, Aliexpress etc, but would want some independent proof that they actually work.
- "Portable" means fits comfortably in carry-on baggage, so lugging along a full-size purifier is not an option.
- I'm not open to pseudoscientific junk like negative ions, ozone generators, UV lights, etc.
And yes, I'm aware that a few days are unlikely to kill me (I don't have asthma etc), but if there are sensible measures I can take, why not?
For calibration purposes, I've been to Beijing & Xi'an last year in summer (not too bad) and Delhi/Gurgaon in the winter about 10 years ago. Gurgaon was terrible back then (see own photo below) and apparently it's much worse now....
Best Answer
Living in Chengdu, China for a pair of years, the only thing that bothered me on especially polluted days was how it affected my eyes. If it is really thick it can be a little uncomfortable, so you would be good to carry around some eye drops to help clear your vision / head.
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- Eat local, organic produce & less meat.
- Grow your own food.
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Answer 2
We traveled there in January, and here are some things that helped:
Travel in a closed, air-conditioned car. This means that if you're using Uber or similar, splurge for the nicer cars. Make sure to ask the driver to close all windows and turn on air-recirculate. It makes a huge difference.
Avoid traveling during the morning and evening rush hours.
If you don't have a face mask, keep a small towel with you at all times. A towel, specially a damp one works well in a pinch
I can not claim scientific evidence but it appeared to help a lot with coughing, sleep quality etc to use an (full size) air purifier. Perhaps you can ask the company or hotel to provide one, or buy one for the trip and leave/sell it at the end. I would not suggest carrying small portable ones in your luggage. Amazon India sells many of them, look for ones with good reviews.
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