From 29,848,570 kilotons (kt) of CO2 equivalent in 1990, global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions surged to 45,873,850 kt of COs equivalent in 2018, as per the World Bank. The sources of these emissions are diverse, from power plants and factories to homes and even living things (nasal exhalations). The major ill-effect of these emissions is air pollution, which, in turn, gives rise to the more-serious global warming, climate change, and respiratory problems, such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). While nothing can be done about human exhalations, a lot could be done about checking the GHG emissions from other sources.

The rising incidence of respiratory diseases is making the provision of such readings and advisories necessary. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), asthma affected 262 million people and led to 461,000 deaths in 2019, while COPD caused 3.23 million deaths, thus becoming the third-leading cause of human mortality. Moreover, air pollution is a major risk factor for lung cancer, which already is the third-most-prevalent of all cancers in the world.

The key reason behind air pollution is the rapid urbanization, with the United Nations (UN) saying that 68% of the people on earth will be city dwellers by 2050, compared to 55% in 2019. This is leading to the rise in the number of gasoline (petrol) and diesel automobiles, rapid construction of power plants, most of which still burn coal or crude oil; rampant construction, which releases huge amount of dust and other fine particles into the atmosphere; and surging consumption of cooking gas.

As a result, government agencies and academic institutes, power generation plants, petrochemical industry, commercial and residential sectors, and pharmaceutical industry are using a range of devices to measure the outdoor as well as indoor air quality. Of these, sales of devices that measure the outdoor air quality is rising faster because air pollution in large areas impacts more people than that in indoor settings. Moreover, many times, the indoor air quality depends on that outside, with the air conditioners and other types of ventilation systems sucking in the air from outside.

Presently, the practice of AQM is the most-widely followed in North America, which accounts for a high incidence of respiratory diseases. As per the National Cancer Institute, colorectal, prostate, and lung cancers accounted for 43% of all the new cancer cases diagnosed in the U.S. in 2020. In addition, awareness on the fact that air pollution is not only caused by GHGs, but also by volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions and other substances has led to the wide usage of AQM devices in indoor settings.

However, Asia-Pacific (APAC) is expected to be the fastest-growing air quality monitoring market in the years to come. Home to the most city dwellers in the world, APAC’s problem of GHG emissions is especially serious. Moreover, this region also has the largest number of automobiles on the roads, which are a major contributor to these emissions. Delhi, Beijing, and several other Chinese and Indian cities constantly rank as the most-polluted in the world, which has created a strong need for regular AQI bulletins based on the readings from AQM devices.

Thus, with the rising levels of pollutants in the air, the demand for devices to measure the indoor and outdoor air quality will rise.