Air Purifiers And Indoor Air Quality

More and more people appear to be suffering from allergies in the West. It is uncertain

exactly why people are becoming so sensitive to common items, which only troubled a very

small percentage of mankind for tens of thousands of years. Some people say it is because our

world is so clean, so clinical, that our bodies have forgotten how to deal with a bit of dirt

and others point to the increased amount of air pollution. So could air purifiers be the

solution?

If you have an allergic reaction, the first thing to do is to work out which substance you

are allergic to. This is not easy to do alone, so you will probably need some professional

medical assistance. Or you could begin by trying to eliminate dust from your house and see if

that helps. You would start to do this by cleaning or replacing any filters you already have

on the air conditioning and central heating and then turning the appropriate one on. Clean

the vacuum cleaner’s filter too and replace the bag, if it has one. Then vacuum the house

carefully from top to bottom.

If this does not work, you may be allergic to pollen, mold or tobacco smoke, if there is a

smoker in the house, or maybe environmental pollution from cars or and near-by industry. Try

installing an electrostatic furnace filter and running your heating or cooling system 24

hours a day to see if that clears it up. The filters can eliminate 90% of household dust and

some other allergens.

The majority of airborne mold particles can be removed from your air by the use of specialist

air purifiers. These air purifiers usually raise the ozone levels too, which has the effect

of clearing up smells and killing some bacteria. However, for a longterm answer, you will

need to seek advice from a professional to clear up the source of the mold, which is usually

dampness caused by leaking pipes or damp brickwork, caused by a bridged cavity wall.

Second-hand tobacco smoke is unpleasant enough, but it can cause an allergic reaction too. If

this is the cause of your problem, you could try one of the liquid air purifiers. This type

of air purifier is very effective at its job. Some air purifiers purport to kill viruses too,

but beware of such claims. The assertion is normally based on the use of ultraviolet light,

but any UV light producing less than 24,000 microwatts of UVGI is unlikely to be effective.

Unfortunately, there is no one total solution to the problem of air pollution, because there

are so many types of substances that cause allergies. Carpets can be a major cause of

allergens, as can all fabrics, particularly if you keep pets. Fleas, their larvae and house

mites love carpets, curtains and upholstery, so you need to steam clean these at least once a

year and spray them with a long-lasting insecticide containing permethrin or remove the

carpets altogether and get leather furniture.

It is best to know which allergy you are fighting, but if you carry out the cleaning methods

mentioned above and use one of the ozone producing air purifiers, you will have gone a very

long way to cleaning the air in your home and defeating allergies.