Concerns about pollution and contaminated water are moving beyond niche online communities and becoming mainstream consumer issues. From water pollution incidents in the United States to growing calls for cleaner air in the United Kingdom, public confidence in the safety of everyday environments is under pressure. Greater awareness of PFAS, often called “forever chemicals,” and the constant stream of alarming news online are adding to consumer anxiety.

The interest is visible on social media. TikTok has attracted hundreds of thousands of posts about purifying tap water at home, while beauty and wellness companies are developing products designed to protect the skin, scalp and hair from potential environmental contaminants.

For purification brand Sans, the opportunity is about providing practical solutions rather than exploiting consumer fears. The company, which recorded $1 million in revenue during its first year in 2020, is on track to reach $100 million in 2026. Its range has expanded from air purifiers priced at $480 and above to filtration systems for drinking and bathing water.

Co-founder and CEO Adam Bedford says the company is focused on measurable improvements in air and water quality, supported by transparent testing. As more consumers pay attention to what they breathe and drink, purification is becoming an increasingly attractive business category.

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Sans’s recent release is well positioned to capture consumers shopping for renter-friendly countertop reverse osmosis devices online. There were 292K searches for ‘best reverse osmosis water filter’ on TikTok this month.

Photo: Courtesy of Sans

Water filtration becomes the next beauty frontier

Hard water is a growing concern in parts of the United States, southern England and Southern Europe. Its mineral content can leave limescale deposits and residue that affect the performance of beauty products. It is also associated with skin and hair concerns, although the effects vary and filtration is not a guaranteed treatment for conditions such as eczema.

Liverpool-based Curo is positioning itself in this market with stylish showerhead filters. The company has recently secured distribution through UK retailer Boots.

For founder Harry Bilby, the business began with a personal experience. He says he struggled with dermatitis around his beard, only to notice that his symptoms improved while travelling abroad. When he returned home, he began researching local water quality.

Bilby says his investigation identified 52 contaminants in Liverpool’s tap water. He also argues that water-quality information can be difficult for consumers to locate, despite water companies being required to publish it.

In response, Curo created an open-source resource that brings together water-quality information by postcode across the UK. The company has also expanded beyond showerheads into filters that attach directly to household taps.

Its showerhead cartridges combine KDF-55 filtration media with activated carbon to help reduce certain impurities.

Dermatologists and hair specialists on social media have helped bring filtered showerheads to a wider audience, often discussing them in relation to scalp comfort, hair care and skin concerns. The UK market is attracting growing competition, with brands including Water2, Hello Klean and Sans developing new offerings.

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Widely considered the gold standard for in-shower filters, KDF-55 sediment features alongside granules of activated carbon inside Curo’s showerhead cartridge.

Photo: Curo Skin

Making filtration easier to understand

As the category becomes more competitive, brands need to explain their technology in ways consumers can understand.

Hello Klean, a shower filtration company co-founded by Karlee Zhang, is on track to double its year-on-year growth and reach £20 million in revenue by the end of 2026.

Zhang says accessible education is central to the brand’s strategy. Rather than overwhelming customers with technical plumbing terminology, Hello Klean translates filtration concepts into familiar beauty and wellness language.

The company has also expanded into hair and body care products designed to help remove mineral build-up associated with hard water.

Its Anti Breakage Hard Water Shampoo, priced at £12, offers a more affordable introduction to the brand than its flagship showerhead, which costs £120. The latest Showerhead+ model adds app connectivity, allowing users to monitor filter life and track showering habits, including water temperatures that may affect skin and hair.

This combination of hardware and personal-care products gives consumers several ways to engage with the brand, rather than requiring them to make a large initial investment.

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The latest addition to Hello Klean’s product assortment is the Showerhead+, a smart filter which incorporates app syncing to let consumers monitor filter lifespan, as well as in shower habits like the use of water at temperatures damaging to skin and hair.

Photo: Courtesy of Hello Klean

The growing concern about indoor air

Water is only one part of the purification conversation. Since the pandemic, consumers have also become more attentive to the air inside their homes.

Matt Jennings, director of innovation at Dyson, says demand for air purifiers tends to increase during highly visible pollution events, including wildfires and public-health emergencies.

However, indoor pollution can also come from ordinary daily activities. Cooking, keeping pets, burning candles and spraying perfumes can release airborne particles and volatile organic compounds, commonly known as VOCs.

Jennings says research suggests that indoor air quality can be worse than outdoor air quality in certain circumstances. Dyson is therefore placing greater emphasis on helping consumers understand the sources of indoor pollution through research-backed education.

The company’s 2026 Find+Follow Purifier uses intelligent sensors and machine learning to detect areas of higher pollution and direct purified air where it is needed. Its distinctive gold-toned design also reflects the growing appeal of wellness technology that combines practical performance with premium aesthetics.

For consumers concerned about climate-related pollution, airborne contaminants and the quality of their home environments, these products offer a visible way to respond to less visible problems.

Can blood purification deliver on its promises?

Some businesses are taking the concept of purification further, moving from the home environment into medical and wellness procedures.

At Clarify Clinics in London, founder Yael Cohen has developed the Clari Procedure, a patented, two-hour intravenous treatment that uses a filtration process to remove selected substances from blood plasma.

Cohen says some patients are interested in reducing their exposure to microplastics and PFAS, which have raised concerns because of their persistence in the environment and potential health effects.

The approach draws on apheresis, a medical technique used to separate and remove specific components of blood. However, the use of such procedures as elective wellness treatments has attracted scrutiny.

Medical concerns include the cost of treatment, potential risks and the lack of robust, long-term evidence demonstrating benefits from removing plastics or other contaminants from the blood of otherwise healthy people outside established medical indications.

The clinic’s representatives acknowledge that the procedure should not be considered a cure. David Cohen, a chemical engineer and board member at Clarify Clinic, describes it as a potential addition to broader lifestyle changes aimed at reducing exposure.

These measures may include avoiding unnecessary contact with plastic, choosing alternative materials where appropriate and reducing exposure to products containing PFAS. Such everyday steps do not require an expensive clinical intervention.

The distinction is important: growing concern about pollution does not automatically mean every product or procedure marketed as a purification solution is effective or necessary.

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The Find + Follow Air Purifier senses areas of high air pollutants in the home – such as where residents are cooking, smoking or burning candles – and adjusts its position to clean this air.

Photo: Courtesy of Dyson

Clean beauty: genuine commitment or clever marketing?

The demand for cleaner formulations is also influencing cosmetics companies. For some brands, ingredient-conscious product development has been part of their identity from the beginning.

Nail-care brand 14 Day Mani says its products were formulated without HEMA, an ingredient used in some gel nail systems that can cause allergic contact dermatitis. The company also developed TPO-free polishes before restrictions on the ingredient came into force, according to founder Susan Cummings.

Cummings says the goal was to offer professional-quality manicures without compromising on a considered approach to ingredients.

Neal’s Yard Remedies has similarly built its identity around ingredient choices and environmental concerns. CEO Anabel Kindersley points to the company’s role in lobbying the UK Parliament in 2016 to prohibit microplastic beads in rinse-off cosmetics.

Kindersley says the renewed attention on PFAS has encouraged consumers to examine beauty ingredients more closely. She describes the company’s approach as precautionary: where there is reasonable doubt about an ingredient, the brand prefers to leave it out.

But consumers are becoming more critical of broad claims about “clean,” “natural” and “pure” products. A 2026 WGSN report cited in the article suggests that simply using clean-beauty language is no longer enough to persuade shoppers.

Rita El Khouri, senior vice-president of research and innovation at K18, says consumers increasingly understand that natural ingredients are not automatically effective and synthetic ingredients are not automatically unsafe.

K18’s Peptide Detox Shampoo is designed to help remove hard-water deposits from hair. According to the company, the product has attracted substantial attention on TikTok, reflecting consumer interest in solutions that address specific, recognisable concerns.

For brands, the lesson is straightforward: claims must be supported by credible evidence and meaningful results. Ingredient-conscious positioning may attract attention, but it cannot replace product performance.

Purification’s next big opportunity

The purification market is projected to reach $35 billion in less than a decade, creating opportunities for companies working across water filtration, air treatment, personal care and wellness.

As environmental concerns increasingly influence purchasing decisions, consumers are looking for products that help them feel more confident about the water they use, the air they breathe and the ingredients they put on their bodies.

The brands best positioned to benefit will be those that pair clear communication with credible technology and demonstrable results. Fear may draw attention to pollution, but trust, transparency and evidence will determine which purification products earn lasting consumer loyalty.