WHAT IS A HOME AIR
PURIFIER?
A home
air purifier is an electronic device designed to pull air
through it and remove particles. Not all home air purifiers
are created equal, many of the advertisements, test results
and consumer information about air purifiers is based on test
results that were achieved by only testing the strong points
of an air purifier.
It is important to know
how pure the air is that comes out of the unit. Special laser
particle counters are used to determine this yet many
manufacturers and almost all consumer advocacy groups and
media fail to use such test equipment when testing air
purifiers.
Purchasing a home air
purifier can be a daunting task, the internet is flooded with misinformation and the FTC is busy fighting against many
companies making misleading claims. Be sure to purchase an air
purifier that has good internal sealing so that contaminates
do not bypass the filter media by leaking around the edges.
The old adage "you
get what you pay for" has never been truer than with air
purifiers. Many of the low cost home air purifiers on the
market use misleading advertising to make it sound like their
home air purifiers are effective, in fact, manufacturers boat
about potential filter efficiency but fail to point out many
of the flaws an inefficiencies cause by using inferior
materials and low cost manufacturing and quality control
practices.
The air you and your
family breathes is an important part of preventative health
care. Millions of people suffer from asthma and allergies, yet
few know that the EPA and OSHA as well as other environmental
associations warn against using home air purifiers that produce
ozone, which has been known to be a respiratory irritant and
can worsen respiratory conditions.
Health effects from indoor air pollutants may be experienced soon after exposure or, possibly, years later. Having a home air purifier is a good idea for potentially preventing serious health problems some where down the line.
Immediate effects may show up after a single exposure or repeated exposures. These include irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat, headaches, dizziness, and fatigue. A home air purifier could just be the thing to decrease these symptoms. Such immediate effects are usually short-term and treatable. Sometimes the treatment is simply eliminating the person's exposure to the source of the pollution, if it can be identified. Symptoms of some diseases, including asthma, hypersensitivity pneumonitis, and humidifier fever, may also show up soon after exposure to some indoor air pollutants.
The likelihood of immediate reactions to indoor air pollutants depends on several factors. Age and preexisting medical conditions are two important influences. Another is the use of a home purifier. In other cases, whether a person reacts to a pollutant depends on individual sensitivity, which varies tremendously from person to person. Some people can become sensitized to biological pollutants after repeated exposures, and it appears that some people can become sensitized to chemical pollutants as well. A home purifier will
desensitize you to the effects of these pollutants.
Certain immediate effects are similar to those from colds or other viral diseases, so it is often difficult to determine if the symptoms are a result of exposure to indoor air pollution. For this reason, it is important to pay attention to the time and place the symptoms occur. If the symptoms fade or go away when a person is away from the home and return when the person returns, an effort should be made to acquire a home air purifier. Some effects may be made worse by an inadequate supply of outdoor air or from the heating, cooling, or humidity conditions prevalent in the home.
Other health effects may show up either years after exposure has occurred or only after long or repeated periods of exposure. These effects, which include some respiratory diseases, heart disease, and cancer, can be severely debilitating or fatal. A home air purifier is a good investment. It is prudent to try to improve the indoor air quality in your home through the use of a
home air purifier, even if symptoms are not noticeable. More information on potential health effects from particular indoor air pollutants is provided in the section, "A Look at Source-Specific Controls."
While
pollutants commonly found in indoor air are responsible for many harmful
effects, there is considerable uncertainty about what concentrations or
periods of exposure are necessary to produce specific health problems.
People also react very differently to exposure to indoor air pollutants.
Further research is needed to better understand which health effects occur
after exposure to the average pollutant concentrations found in homes and
which occur from the higher concentrations that occur for short periods of
time.
The health effects associated with some indoor air pollutants are summarized in the section "Reference Guide to Major Indoor Air Pollutants in the Home."
HOW TO CHOOSE A HOME AIR PURIFIER OR HOME AIR CLEANER
Choosing an air purifier
not as easy as you might think. Determine the contaminates you
want to remove, your airflow, the area to be covered and other
specifics such as maintenance and cleaning, noise levels and
total system efficiency, not just "filter
efficiency."
THE PROBLEM -
POOR AIR QUALITY
Most people are aware that outdoor air pollution and air quality can damage their health but many do not know that indoor air pollution and air quality can also have significant health effects. 
INDOOR AIR QUALITY IN SCHOOLS
Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools Symposium brings school officials, nurses, teachers, facility managers, parents and others together to raise awareness about indoor air quality (IAQ) and the potential negative effect poor indoor air quality can have on children's health.
SICK BUILDING SYNDROME
A 1984 World Health Organization Committee report suggested that up to 30 percent of new and remodeled buildings worldwide may be the subject of excessive complaints related to indoor air quality (IAQ). Often this condition is temporary, but some buildings have long-term problems. |
