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Air
Purification
Most homes can benefit from air
purification equipment because of the nature of conventional building materials,
our lifestyles and furnishing preferences in the home. There appears to be
an overabundance of household dust and particulate matter in the conventional
home. Air filtration is your best choice for assistance in elimination of
particulate matter inside the home after you have utilized source control. Air
purification can also assist in the control of gasses if ventilation is
unavailable.
- There
are various types of air filters and media used by
Air
Purification Equipment.
Electronic Air
Cleaners
- These units have an electronic
field to help trap particles. There are primarily two types of electronic
air cleaners.
Electrostatic Precipitators - As the particles pass
into the air cleaner an electronic charge is given to them. The charged
particles are then attracted to and captured on a continuously
electrically charged series of flat plates. These devices may produce ozone
which is a known lung irritant and these systems become less efficient with
use. These units are not recommended for continuous
high efficiency performance.
Charged Media - The media used to capture the particulate
matter has been given an electrical charge during its manufacture. This
filter medium becomes less efficient with use. These units are not
recommended for continuous high efficiency performance. -
Ion Generators
- These devices cause
particulate matter to have an electronic charge also. They cause the
particulate matter to be attracted to walls, floors, table tops, draperies
and even individuals in a room. These units don't remove
the particulate matter, they only cause them to accumulate and soil various
items around the home and ion generators can produce low levels of ozone
which is a pollutant and known lung irritant. These types of units are not
recommended for continuous safe and high efficiency performance.
Ozone Generators- These units produce ozone,
a molecule with three atoms of oxygen, to remove odors in the air and their
manufacturers consider them to be air cleansers. Ozone is often
referred to as "Supercharged Oxygen" or "Super
Activated Oxygen" by some manufacturers of air cleaners. These
ozone producing units do not remove particulate matter from
the air. Ozone itself is a pollutant and is considered an irritant to
the lungs. The Centers For Disease Control in Atlanta, GA states "Ozone
is an extraordinarily dangerous pollutant....ozone is nearly as effective at
destroying lungs as mustard gas". The Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) has stated that Ozone is a toxic gas with vastly different
chemical properties than oxygen and when Ozone is inhaled, it can damage the
lungs. The EPA further states that Ozone in low amounts can cause
chest pain, coughing, shortness of breath and throat irritation. Scientific
evidence demonstrates that ozone released into the air at concentrations
that do not exceed public health standards, will not effectively remove
viruses, bacteria, molds and many odor-causing chemicals and is therefore
generally ineffective in controlling indoor air pollution. Most of
these units can not adjust the production of ozone they produce and many
factors affect ozone concentrations in a room such as the room size,
materials in the room that react with the ozone and the amount of
ventilation. Even when using these devices as directed, you do not know if
you creating a dangerously high amount of this pollutant in your indoor
environment. On the basis that ozone generators produce an indoor pollutant
and do not remove particulate matter, these devices are not
recommended for safe and efficient performance.
- Mechanical Air Filters
- These units are the best for
capturing particulate matter. They can utilize a filter media with very high
efficiency ratings. We can see to about 10 microns (one micron is 1/25,000
of an inch). A High Efficiency Particle
Arresting filter or HEPA can filter 99.97%
of particles as small as 0.3 microns. These filters were originally designed
to trap radioactive dust in atomic plants. This filter media becomes
more efficient with use. Air cleaners with HEPA filter media are highly
recommended.
Adsorbents and
Reactive Materials- The addition of adsorbents
such as carbon and zeolite will
assist an air filter unit in removing various gasses and odors from the air
by absorbing these gasses into the media. Activated carbon is the most
common adsorbent. The quantity of gasses that carbon and zeolite can absorb
is directly related to the quantity of this media. The more the
better. Be careful of units with carbon impregnated mesh filters that
make claims of odor removal. These units do not have the quantity of
gas absorbing media to provide performance for a substantial time period.
If you need the addition of odor and gas removal in your indoor environment
along with particulate removal, then adsorbents combined with the
effectiveness of a HEPA mechanical filter provides the greatest overall
benefit to your indoor air environment. Highly recommended.
Healthgoods Staff
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Purification
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