The air we breathe consists of pollutants that are invisible to a naked eye. These air pollutants can contribute to allergies as well as other airborne diseases. The impacts of air pollutants are more pronounced among people who spend more time in closed areas such as homes and workplaces.
The air indoors is not that clean as many people think since it dirtier compared to outdoor air. The concentration of allergens like pet dander is high indoors than outside. Other particles like pollen, dust, mold spores, smoke as well as viruses among contaminate the air we breathe indoors.
These pollutants can also damage the immune system and lungs. Indoor pollution can also pose serious health issues like cancer. The pollutants indoors can also cause problems like eye irritation and sore throat.
If you want to improve the quality of the air you breathe indoors, you can use an air cleaner. The device purifies the air indoors, and it can go a long way in preventing various issues with a link to air pollution indoors. Before you decide to buy this gadget, there are certain things that you should know.
How An Air Purifier Works
The concept of air purifier started long back as a protective mask for people working in dangerous zones like firefighters. However, the idea evolved to protect families from airborne pollutants. An air purifier filters allergens and contaminants from the air that we breathe indoors.
The air filter purifier uses electrical attraction, filters, and ozone to clear pollutants from the air. There are different types of air purifiers, but they serve the same purpose of purifying the air you breathe especially inside buildings.
Air Filters
Air filters use fine sieves to filter particles from the air circulating inside the building. The finest sieve is capable of trapping smaller particles of pollutants in the air. For example, High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filter represents the benchmark for the air filters to trap about 99.97 % of airborne particles. These particles are usually larger than 0.3 microns, standard measure for air particles.
A naked eye is not able to see anything that is smaller than 10 microns. Bacteria and pollutants are microscopic such that they usually escape detection. A filter for a room air conditioner can only trap particles with 10 microns or larger. The main advantage of a HEPA filter is that it can remove smaller particles like smoke, pollen, asbestos, pet dander and chemicals not easy to see with eyes.
As the air continuously passes through the HEPA filter, it becomes cleaner. However, the room capacity of the HEPA air purifier determines if it is capable of handling your air purifying needs. Top of the range air purifiers can provide about six air exchanges per hour in a room with an average size.
Other HEPA filters consist of ultra-violet light (UV) system. The system plays a pivotal role in killing the bacteria, viruses, and fungi in the air instantly upon entering the air purifier. UV light also helps to protect the HEPA filter against viral and biological contamination.
Electrical Attraction
Electrical attraction constitutes another type of technology used by air purifiers to attract pollutants from the air. The electrical attraction uses precipitating electrostatic cleaners as the air purifier. It also uses electret filters and negative ion generators.
Electret Filters
The electer filters in air purifiers utilize some synthetic fibers to create static charges that attract particles. Electret filters come in the form of plain, pleated reusable or disposable. The type of filter you want determines its requirement for replacement.
Electrostatic Precipitating Cleaners
These cleaners use the method of drawing the particles by a fan where they are charged with wires consisting of high voltage. Several precipitating cells attract the contaminants as they pass the plates since they carry an opposite electrical charge. If you do not want to replace the HEPA filter regularly, an electronic air purifier is perfect. However, its downside is that it produces ozone as a byproduct.
Negative Ion Generators
Negative ion generators utilize small charged wires to create gas molecules that have negative charges that hold fast to airborne particles. They then collect into the filter, but the drawback is that many ions end up in the air. They stick to furnishings and other wall surfaces and may stain them.
Ionic air purifiers are not very effective against odors, gases, and chemicals. Some of the ionic air purifiers reticulate the dust particles they attract. Traditional air purifiers that use HEPA filtration are useful since they do not reticulate the air they draw.
Ozone Generators
Ozone generators do not use filters to trap particles, but they use high voltage electrical currents that convert oxygen into ozone. Ozone breaks down microorganisms and molecules in the air since it acts as a powerful oxidant.
However, ozone generators are not effective in removing allergens indoors according to several studies. Ozone can be dangerous to health since it is a potent lung irritant. Ozone that is created artificially can worsen allergies, and asthma and they damage the lining of nasal passages and lungs. As a result, it causes chest pain, coughing, shortness of breath as well as throat irritation.
Various heating gadgets produce carbon monoxide among other dangerous gases. The other issue is that radon and asbestos are also growing problems in homes today. Since many people stay indoors, the need for cleaner and fresher air is significant to improve the health of people. It is therefore essential to get an air purifier to address the problem of airborne pollutants at home.
There are different sources of information where you can get the right air purifier for your home. Instead of purifying the air to improve your health, some air purifiers can end up causing adverse effects on your health.
However, there are many benefits of using an air purifier especially indoors. It removes airborne pollutants that are responsible for causing different conditions that can cause a significant threat to health in some instances. Visit CoolAndPortable to find the best air purifier for your home.
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