India, Dec. 8 -- When winter descends every winter over North India, the air fills with pollutants, visibility drops and the chill comes with an unseen menace, toxic smog. What was once a peaceful season now harbours increasing AQI levels, itchy throats and exhaustion. Despite cloud seeding practices and emergency intervention, pollution is still pervasive in the urban environment, damaging not only the lungs but the body's largest and most exposed organ, the skin, and the hair that also bears the brunt of particulate exposure.

In an interview with HT Lifestyle, Dr Mohna Chauhan, Dermatologist and Head of Clairederma at Prakash Hospital, Noida, shares why winter pollution is harsher than most people realise and breaks down how it affects...