WELLNESS ENVIRONMENTS: AIR

AIR PURIFIERS

Air Cleaning vs Air Purifying

The very air we breathe is often a high source of toxins. These toxins can cause allergic reactions in some people, and at the least, load the body up with more toxins for removal of an already overloaded system.

Some controversy exists about whether air cleaners can reduce the allergic reactions produced by larger particles such as pollen, house dust allergens, some molds, and animal dander.

In general, air cleaners do not contain special media to make them effective in reducing health risks; rather they make the air seem more pleasant to breathe by removing odors and smoke.

More effective cleaning of the air is achieved by using air purifiers.

Types of Air Purifiers

The range of air purifiers includes:

Simple HEPA Filtration Systems
Air Purifiers

HEPA Filters

HEPA - "High Efficiency Particulate Arrestor [Air filter]." clean by air filtration. This type of air filter is used in air cleaning equipment including vacuum cleaners. Features of high quality HEPA filters include:

Filter particles in the airborne environment down to 0.3 microns in size, at an efficiency rating of 99.97%.
Filter and remove dust, smoke, pollen, animal dander.
Provide approximately 15 air exchanges per hour in an average size bedroom and approximately 5 to 7 air exchanges per hour in a 1500 square foot open room.
Contain an average of 15 lbs. of activated coconut carbon / Zeolite blends to absorb offgasing chemicals and odors.
Medical grade ultra-violet light system to kill viruses, bacteria and fungi. The ultraviolet-light will also protect the HEPA filter itself from biological and virus contamination.

Lower quality brands HEPA air cleaners on the market, contain pre- filters that have been sprayed with carbon dust which is extremely short lived and more of a sales gimmick than a viable way of removing odors and offgasing chemicals.

Air Purifiers

Air Purifiers do not clean the air by filtration as HEPA air cleaners do. There generally use two types of air purifiers:

Ozone/ionizer air purifier - which uses two steps to clean the air. The ozone purifies the air by oxidation. Ozone is naturally occurring gas. It is created by nature when lightning cuts through the oxygen molecule in the air. It splits the O2 molecule into O3 which is ozone. The fresh clean smell after a thunderstorm is the ozone that has just been created. Ozone penetrates into the cellular structure of odor, bacteria and fungus molecules, rupturing the cell wall of the contaminant. After this process is complete, the contaminants and odors are greatly reduced. The second step in this system is the ionization.

There are two types of ionization.

Needlepoint ionizers - ionic charges attach to airborne particles such as smoke, dust, pollen, animal dander, etc., forcing the particles to quickly drop out of the air in the breathing environment, down to the ground. These needlepoint ionizers usually cover a five to seven foot area in front area of the ionizer.
Radio ionization - a newer technology that a specialized and safe radio wave that ionizes the air for aprox 50 feet right through the walls in all directions. With radio ionization, you can actually drop particles { allergens } out of the air in surrounding rooms. One unit can often cover an entire home. These air purifiers work especially well on removing cigar and cigarette smoke and their odors.