New Delhi: Anti-aging enthusiast Bryan Johnson walked out of a podcast recording during his visit to India, blaming poor air quality.
The tech millionaire complained of ‘eyes and throat burning’ alongside linking pollution to his ‘skin to break out in a rash’, NDTV reported.
The 47-year-old set out to record an episode for Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath’s podcast ‘WTF’ but called off midway.
Johnson said that he was unable to tolerate the room’s air quality going an AQI of around 120.
During their conversation, Johnson told Kamath that ‘I can't see you over there’.
Wearing an N95 mask, Johnson attended the podcast at a five-star hotel with an air purifier.
Later on taking to social platform X, Johnson said that he ended the podcast early ‘due to the bad air quality’.
Johnson pointed out that outside air circulating in the room rendered air purifier ineffective.
Johnson, who called Kamath as a ‘gracious host’, said that the indoor AQI had climbed to 130 by the time he left.
Adding further he said PM2.5 levels were at 75 micrograms per cubic metre, which is equivalent to smoking 3.4 cigarettes over 24 hours.
Criticising the normalizing of pollution in India, he said: ‘People would be outside running. Babies and small children exposed from birth. No one wore a mask, which can significantly decrease exposure. It was so confusing.’
After spending three days in India, Johnson reportedly claimed that pollution triggered a rash, persistent eye and throat irritation.
He wondered why Indian authorities have not declared air pollution a ‘national emergency’.
‘The evidence shows that India would improve the health of its population more by cleaning up air quality than by curing all cancers,’ he was quoted as saying.
Johnson said pollution is India’s silent crisis while obesity is America’s, adding that when he returned to the US he saw obesity everywhere.
‘When I returned to the US, my eyes were fresh to see what is normalised to me. I saw obesity everywhere. 42.4 per cent of Americans are obese, and because I was around it all the time, I had been mostly oblivious to it,’ he was quoted as saying.