Ngtjyty

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: https://www.hindustantimes.com/delhi-news/for-polluted-ncr-cities-it-s-time-to-act-now-say-experts/story-0lblewjb64a1r7KmaX1iWP.html

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), but 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 concentration so I can judge both risk and effectiveness.


• I'm not open to pseudoscientific junk like negative ions, ozone generators, UV lights, etc.


• "Portable" means fits comfortably in carry-on baggage, so lugging along a full-size purifier is not an option.

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?

I visit this area twice a year. Assuming you can't change your time of the year to visit - some months are better than others - unfortunately the only thing you can do is to physically limit the time you are present there. Such as flying in in the morning, having your meetings, and flying out as soon as they finish. Or hope the storm comes through right before your tip.

Masks don't help as pollution particles are too small. Neither does hotel air filtration systems. The mobile apps such as Air Quality would show the air quality index. But it's quite depressing to look at those numbers, and at those levels you see pollution levels with your eyes anyway.

Make sure you pack the headache pills, it really hurts after some time. Pack sleeping pills if you intend to stay overnight, as you'd have hard time getting asleep.

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.