Sales of masks and air purifiers recently skyrocketed by five to eight times upon fine dust alerts and yellow dust from China last weekend, retailers said Tuesday.

Nose mask sales at CU convenience stores surged by 446 percent on-year between Saturday and Sunday, when the National Institute of Environmental Research issued fine dust warnings nationwide, according to the retailer.

The company saw an 84 percent on-year increase in nose mask sales between April 1 and May 7.

Retail chain E-mart also reported a 102 percent increase in its nose mask sales during the first week of May.

Korean e-commerce company Ticket Monster said sales of nose masks during the first week of May rose by 660 percent compared with the same period last year. The company’s sales of nose masks in April also increased twofold on-year.

Air purifiers have also been flying off the shelves.

In the last week, offline sales of air purifiers at local retailers Lotte Hi-mart and E-mart increased by 410 percent and 349 percent, respectively.

E-commerce website 11st Street also reported that online sales of air purifiers had soared by threefold year-on-year between April 1 and May 7.

Ticket Monster’s air purifier sales went up by 20 percent in April, the company’s spokesperson said.

“Though certified nose masks are three times more expansive (than ordinary ones), they sell better. Customers also appear willing to pay more for air purifiers as they are closely related to their health,” Ticket Monster’s spokesperson Lim Seok-hoon said. 

By Shim Woo-hyun (ws@heraldcorp.com)