While outdoor air pollution is a matter of concern, most people assume their homes are safe. But indoor air can actually be two to five times more polluted and hazardous than outdoor air because pollutants get trapped inside. Neighbourhood construction dust, cooking emissions, incense sticks, strong cleaning chemicals and even stored household waste silently degrade the air we breathe for nearly 90 per cent of the day we stay indoors. Yet, despite this high exposure, monitoring and regulations for indoor air are largely absent in India.

Sensing this gap, a research team from BITS Pilani Hyderabad ’s MMNE Lab, led by Professor Sankar Ganesh and Dr Atun Roy Choudhury, has created India’s first customised Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) scale, which can be accommodated in a small device with

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