Models showcase air purifiers for use in cars. (image: E-Mart)
SEOUL, Mar. 10 (Korea Bizwire) — Spike in fine dust concentrations have caused sales of air purifiers for automobiles to soar amid rising consumer health concerns, local retailers said Sunday.
Data provided by E-Mart Inc., South Korea’s largest discount hypermarket chain, showed sales of vehicle dust filtering products skyrocketing 1,046 percent on-year in the March 1-7 period when air conditions in the country were particularly bad, with the government issuing warnings and taking countermeasures.
It said total shipments of air cleaners for cars in the seven-day period were 1.2 percent larger than all sales posted for the first two months of the year.
Fine dust refers to airborne particles that are smaller than 10 micrometers and have been known to cause various respiratory problems while also affecting the body’s immune system. Ultrafine dust particles, in particular, can be absorbed directly into the blood stream, posing serious health risks.
Besides purifiers for cars, consumers here are starting to buy filters that can be fitted to windows to keep indoor air as clean as possible.
Local online shopping mall Gmarket said sales of filters that can be placed in windows spiked 73 percent from Feb. 6 through this past Tuesday compared with the same period in 2018.
It added that with people unwilling to let in outside air due to high concentrations of harmful fine dust, demand for household oxygen generators shot up 68 percent compared with the year before.
“Worries over the fallout of fine dust is causing consumers to take steps to keep their homes insulated from pollutants, especially since many do not see a quick fix to the problem,” a Gmarket source said. He predicted that demand for devices and filters that can catch or reduce contaminants from the air will continue to rise going forward.
(Yonhap)
