If you think about the amount of contaminants that are present in the air today, those who suffer from allergies and other respiratory disorders are challenged to find remedial ways to clean the air that they breathe within their home environment.
Not too long ago, you simply vacuumed and dusted your home regularly, and bathed and brushed your pets outdoors as often as possible, in order to cut down on the most common allergy-inducing factors. Today, on the other hand, there is a lot more at stake, when you consider all the types of irritating pollutants that are present in our environment. Bigger challenges.... require better tools for providing a solution – enter, the air purifier.
Here, I will inform you of ways an air cleaner...or air purifier, can improve your indoor air...and possibly your health.
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Air Cleaners...How they Help YOU with Indoor Air
There are all kinds of types, shapes and sizes of air cleaners available to you. They range from relatively inexpensive table-top models to sophisticated and expensive whole-house systems. Some air cleaners are highly effective at particle removal, while others, including most table-top models, are much less effective. Most air cleaners do not remove gaseous pollutants.
The effectiveness of an air cleaner depends on how well it collects pollutants from indoor air (expressed as a percentage efficiency rate) and how much air it draws through the cleaning or filtering element (expressed in cubic feet per minute). A very efficient collector with a low air-circulation rate will not be effective, nor will a cleaner with a high air-circulation rate but a less efficient collector. The long-term performance of any air cleaner depends on maintaining it according to the manufacturer's directions.
Another important factor you should know in determining the effectiveness of an air cleaner is the strength of the pollutant source. Table-top air cleaners, in particular, may not remove noticeable amounts of pollutants from strong nearby sources. If you are sensitive to particular indoor pollutant sources, you may find that air cleaners are helpful only in conjunction with your diligent efforts in removing these pollutants.
Over the past few years, there has been some advertising and talk suggesting that houseplants have been shown to reduce levels of some chemicals in laboratory experiments. There is currently no evidence. However, a reasonable number of houseplants remove significant quantities of pollutants in homes and offices. By the way, indoor houseplants should never be over-watered because extremely damp soil may promote the growth of microorganisms which can affect allergic individuals.
At present, the EPA does not recommend using air cleaners to reduce levels of radon and its decay products. The effectiveness of these machines is uncertain because they only partially remove the radon decay products and do not reduce the amount of radon entering your home. The EPA plans to do additional research on whether air cleaners are, or could become, a reliable means of reducing the health risk from radon.
