Asthma Relief Articles - Article #8

Air Purifier Filters and Air Quality Basics

Air purifier filters are not always the answer to air quality problems. We, at expert air purifier reviews and ratings believe in solving the problem rather than masking the symptoms.

Before investing in air purifier filters or devices, you should know the basic approaches for improving indoor air quality:

  1. Eliminate or control the pollutant source.
  2. Dilution of the contaminants through ventilation.
  3. Removal or reduction of the contaminants through the use of air purifier filters or air purifiers.

Proper ventilation in a building is a must! Before the energy crunch in the 1970's, fresh air in buildings was not really an issue. When energy costs started to rise, we started making our buildings more energy efficient with better insulation and sealing techniques that made the building tighter, reducing the amount of fresh air into the buildings and increasing indoor pollution. After indoor air quality issues came to the surface, we learned how to reduce energy costs while not compromising the health of the occupants, through the practice of building science. Great strides have been made in this area, leading to more comfortable, healthier, safer homes.

The goal of good ventilation is to bring in the right amount of fresh air, not too much or not too little. This is accomplished by using mechanical ventilation (exhaust fans, energy recovery units, etc.) that are sized to the volume of the house and/or according to lifestyle. Mechanical ventilation not only dilutes contaminants but also removes excess moisture that can become a mold problem if not properly addressed.

Moisture can show up as high humidity (under-ventilated bathrooms, indoor pools or hot tubs and very tight homes) or water that enters a building either from the outside (rainwater) or from undetected plumbing leaks. Addressing these problems using the right basic approach, elimination or control of the source (in this case repair the leak from the outside or finding and repairing the plumbing leak) makes more sense than trying to rid the mold with air purifier filters or air purifiers.

Water damage has many other sources that should be investigated.

Pollutants such as formaldahyde and benzene can be produced from certain furniture, carpets, plywood and drapes. Other sources of benzene are gas cans, gas powered lawn mowers that are stored in garages that are attached to the house. If elimination of these sources is not an option an air purification device would be the obvious choice.

Taking a shower can be hazardous to your health. When showering, chlorine can turn into a vapor and be inhaled. The vapors become airborne and mix with other particles in the house and inhaled by others, triggering asthma and other respiratory problems. Chlorine can also enter the body by absorption through your skin, up to 8 times more than drinking it! Good quality shower filters, will remove chlorine.

Toilets, air conditioning coils, heating/cooling ducts and humans are producers of bacteria. The right plan in these cases would be an air purifier device.

Carbon Monoxide is caused by incomplete combustion of appliances that depend on combustion to operate. ELIMINATION IS ALWAYS THE ANSWER WHEN IT COMES TO CARBON MONOXIDE! FIND THE PROBLEM-FIX THE PROBLEM! Leave this to a company that is well-versed in carbon monoxide.

Pet and human dander can be controlled with good air purifier filters. Odors from pets, such as cat litter boxes can be eliminated and controlled at the source. For cat urine odor solutions and resources, we highly recommend you visit cat-urine-odor-advisor.com/. Combining source control with on-going air purification using PHI technology will yield excellent results. One of the many applications of PHI air purification technology is veterinary hospitals to help control odors and bacteria.

A word about ventilation. While proper ventilation is a must, it must be noted that bringing in the right amount of fresh air will not always remove all the contaminants, but they will dilute them. Even though fresh air is introduced, some pollutants can still remain.

By using the combination of source control (elimination), ventilation (dilution) and good air purifier filters and/or purification system ,your environment will be much heatlthier.

Article courtsey of Ed Bishop Expert Air Purifiers Reviews.

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