Just Chill: Can an AC environment ever be an alternative to fresh air?

What should residents of Calcutta, one of the most polluted Indian metros, do to breathe clean air? Going by the numerous adSvertisements on TV, they should just install one of those airconditioners (AC) that claim to have new technology that ensure consumers get “pure air” and stay indoors.

Bad air now in good hands, reads the ad for a neo plasma filter AC that claims to supply 99.9 per cent pure air by using a 12-stage air filter system that effectively kills viruses and bacteria, including influenza and the bird flu virus. So, apart from the scorching heat, you have another good reason to buy an AC. Most large AC companies in the market are advertising new technology that provides guaranteed fresh air and a good night’s sleep (either by increasing the room’s oxygen level or by following human sleep patterns). And these claims, true or not, are attracting consumers by the drove.

“New age ACs have seen a sales growth of 30 to 35 per cent in the last couple of years,” says Gautam Mukherjee of Universal Sales, one of the largest AC dealers in Calcutta. “Even if one has to pay a bit more, who can ignore the chance of breathing in pure air,” he asks. Quite. Samsung, one of the biggest AC players, has seen a 70 per cent jump in AC sales in the first quarter of this year.

But can air conditioners really ensure that what we breathe in is pure air laden with oxygen? Can an AC environment ever be an alternative to the fresh air one gets in the open? Can ACs really provide a completely bacteria-free, virus free, pollutant-free environment?

Amitav Sarkar, deputy manager, Electrolux (eastern India), explains the technology new age ACs use to ensure that one breathes in fresh air. “Our oxygen series are specially equipped with an oxiguard and an oxigenerator. These not only ensure bacteria-free pure air through a filtration system but also more oxygen in the room. The oxigenerator generates rejuvenating anions to deactivate dust and preserve clean air.” The ioniser fitted in Electrolux ACs discharge positive ions or anions into the air. They react with harmful negative ions and negate their presence. “Thus the air one breathes in is pure and fresh,” adds Sarkar.

“LG’s neo plasma series has a K-AVF filter that is said to have the power to penetrate the cell wall and decompose cell nuclei of both bacteria and viruses. A host of other filters work together to remove odour, hazardous volatile organic chemicals and microscopic contaminants also,” says Rajiv Jain, business group head, AC division, LG.

But, asks homemaker Vidhi Banka, a mother of two young children, “Then why do doctors advise against keeping children in a closed AC room, saying that in such environments common cold viruses and bacteria that cause respiratory ailments circulate more frequently?”

Though most new age ACs are said to have an active bacteria filter and some even claim to kill viruses, what happens in reality is a question open to all. The oxyguard filter of Electrolux has a mixture of anti-bacterial components; Samsung AC filters trap and remove dust particles and de-activate the captured bacteria and unpleasant odours in them. “Our ACs have a deodourising filter which efficiently absorbs all odours and a Catechin filter that de-activates captured bacteria and unpleasant odours. An antibacterial cross fan suppresses proliferation of molds and bacteria,” says Ruchika Batra, general manager, corporate communications, Samsung south west Asia. But no one accepts the claim of ensuring 99.9 per cent pure air supply or of trapping all kinds of bacteria, let alone viruses. “We can only ensure that our air conditioners are ultra clean from inside, so that only clean and fresh air is circulated,” adds Batra.

But city paediatrician Dr Santanu Ray points out, “An AC environment helps in the growth of legionarre pneumonia, a type of pneumonia that can only grow in an AC. Legionella bacteria grow in the water that accumulates in the back of a window AC and for that matter also circulates in a split AC. They are very harmful for young children. Moreover, the oxygen level in a closed AC room is also quite low and chances of picking up bacteria and viruses are very high.” Sarkar of Electrolux, however, replies, “Our new ACs have a special design to stop the accumulation of water.”

Not only do ACs claim to filter bacteria and viruses out, some are also said to be equipped with functions that change with human sleep patterns, ensuring a good night’s sleep. Says Samsung’s Batra, “Our new biosleep AC range has been developed by studying sensitive sleep patterns. It keeps the human skin temperature at an optimal level during the three stages of dormancy — falling asleep stage, sound sleep stage and wake up stage — ensuring 82 per cent longer deep-sleep hours. Such machines quickly cool room temperature during the falling asleep stage, keep optimum skin temperature for a deep and comfortable sleep by preventing the skin from drying during the sound sleep stage and raise room temperature to raise human body temperature for waking up.”

City based general practitioner Dr Narayan Bhattacharya, however, doesn’t buy this idea. “ACs can provide a good night’s sleep by keeping humidity levels comfortable but they can hardly affect the sleep pattern. Our sleep pattern is controlled by our biological clock and the reticular response of the brain. It has got little to do with skin temperature. Otherwise, how can a person who is an early riser get up early on a winter morning? It’s the biological clock that prompts him to do so, and not his skin temperature,” says Bhattacharya.

And Pritee Shah, senior director at the Ahmedabad-based Consumer Education and Research Society, says, “The claims that most AC companies are making today defy all logic. They have no right to mislead consumers. We have written to the Advertising Standard Council of India stating that these companies should substantiate their claims through independent and relevant data. Else we will take legal action against them.”

Clearly, these cool claims will see quite some heat in the months ahead.