Dust allergies are common in the country triggering reactions among people. But now, a liquid-based anti-pollution product aims to cure all dust and air pollution problems. SHALINI SAKSENA tells you more
Last year, Delhi’s average annual concentration of PM2.5 was 84.1 microgram per cubic meter, more than double the level of Beijing which averaged 37.5 g/m3 during the year, according to a report by a Swiss group that measures air quality levels based on the concentration of the lung-damaging fine particles. This leads to dust allergies. But this could soon be a thing of the past.

A liquid-based anti-pollution product aims to reduce the PM levels up to 65 per cent in seven days. All one has to do is add 70 ml of the liquid —Curol+ — to 10 litres of water and mop the floor with this mix or spray the same onto the carpet. The coating creates a safety net, the floor becomes a giant air filter and the pollutants, dust mites and virus carrying dust are attracted to the floor. The mopping cycle removes the dust from the floor and creates a new coating. On day seven, there is a 65 per cent reduction in air pollution in the treated surface.

Dhruv Bhatnagar, CEO, DB Life Science LLP tells you that the main cause of worry in a country like ours is not so much as the carbon levels but the PM levels. “You mix 70 ml of this product in water and mop the floor with it. The dust particles get attracted to the floor, they settle down and the next day, you mop the floor again and the settled PM gets removed and the cycle continues,” Bhatnagar says.

He tells you that just like one would eat a medicine for a lifelong illness, this liquid needs to be applied daily. “It is safe, 100 per cent organic, food safe, 100 per cent water soluble, biodegradable and PH neutral. Unfortunately, if one were to stop using it, the pollution levels will start rising again,” Bhatnagar says.

For the liquid to be effective, one can’t use any other product on the floor. This, he tells you, will bring down the efficacy of the liquid to zero. But all those who have been mopping their floors with sanitisers to keep COVID-19 away from their homes, need not worry. All they have to do is mop the floor twice — in the morning, using Curol+; in the evening using sanitiser with an eight to nine-hour window between mops.

Whether mopping the floor with sanitiser works or not is difficult to ascertain, there is need for more research, Bhatnagar says. “There was a research done, over a period of time, by Harvard University, US, that wherever, the PM levels were higher — indoors and outdoors — in those areas transmission and fatality rates were higher. Our guarantee on paper, to anybody using our product, is that the liquid can reduce PM levels by 50-60 per cent within seven days,” Bhatnagar says. He is quick to point out that if people are using his product, ideally, they don’t need to use any other disinfectant.

“The advantage of this liquid is that this product has been made in such a way that it does the work of a normal disinfectant available in the market. One doesn’t really need to use anything else on the floor. Our aim here is to tell people that our product reduced PM levels. The fact that it cleans the floor as well, is an added benefit, not the end goal,” Bhatnagar says.

For outdoors, since the PM is there all the time and multiplying every day, it can’t be removed but there is a solution.“This is where our expertise comes in. We don’t remove the pollution. We reduce the effects of it. We spray the area with a customised solution that will create a coating for a month. Over time, it continues to trap the PM onto the floor until it is washed away with water or any other chemical. Hence, the three variants: For outdoors, it costs Rs 1699 including GST, indoor (hard flooring): It costs Rs 2299 including GST and for carpet it is Rs 2299 including GST. For now, the product is available in two litre bottle, though plans are afoot to introduce one litre bottle as well. One can buy it from Amazon or visit: https://curol.in,” Bhatnagar says.

Many people would find the price a bit steep. But Bhatnagar tells you that an average household would use around a litre a month, so the price becomes half. “If one is looking to compare this liquid with any other disinfectant in the market, we are not the right product nor in the right price range. But we are trying to reduce air pollution and PM levels, that is the reason for this pricing,” Bhatnagar says.