If you happen to suffer from allergies, the best way to keep your symptoms to a minimum is to reduce your exposure to allergens as much as possible. If you have allergies to airborne allergens, then an allergy relief air purifier or a car air purifier may be a wise investment in your comfort. Since there are a lot of different brands of home air purifiers and a variety of models, you’ll want to compare your options to find one which will work well to tame your allergies.
The problem with some home air purifiers is the ozone they produce. Ozone is an unstable molecule that is a combination of three oxygen atoms. The instability of the molecule causes it to break into a more stable oxygen pair with the third oxygen atom being released as a free radical. The electrically charged oxygen atoms are very reactive and these reactions can be harmful to your health. The presence of these free radicals is potentially dangerous to your lungs. It is thought that these free radicals can increase your likelihood of developing serious illnesses like cancer or asthma. Asthma sufferers should avoid ozone particles as much as possible because they can worsen the symptoms of the disease.
These home air purifiers don’t normally emit ozone in a quantity sufficient to cause harm to most people, but you will be able to smell the ozone in the air. Ozone is used in air purification systems because these molecules readily bind to particulate matter in the air, such as many of the common airborne allergens. There are also home air purifiers which use electrically charged metal plates instead of ozone to remove airborne particulates like pet dander, pollen and other materials. Fans move the air through the system with impurities being trapped by the charged metal plates. With these home air purifiers, you need to clean the metal plates weekly.
An allergy relief air purifier is not going to make your allergies go away but you will feel better. The air in your home will be free of most dust, smoke and pollen particles. The thing to keep in mind is that your air purifier needs to be the right one for the room you are going to use it in. If you have a room 10 ft. by 15 ft. or smaller, you can get away with buying a smaller home air purifier. If you want it to work in a larger room, you will need a bigger, more expensive model.
You will want to be sure all home air purifiers you are considering have a HEPA filter (High Efficiency Particulate Air). A HEPA filter keeps particles pulled from the air from becoming airborne again, something which can be a problem with air purifiers that use metal plates to trap allergens and other impurities. Some HEPA filters are washable and can be reused, though this is by no means always the case. A lot of the HEPA filters should be good as long as you have the home air purifiers, anywhere from 3 to 10 years. Some HEPA filters need replacing every few years. The quality of HEPA filters or how long they’ll last doesn’t always have a connection to the price, which is something to remember as you shop.
The sound level of your home air purifier may also be important to you. A home air purifier which is of high quality should be so quiet that you can’t tell if it’s on by listening for it. The electricity used in some home air purifiers cause crackling and popping noises. Sometimes the fans in the home air purifiers are loud and can make it hard to hear the TV or to sleep. If you have a central HVAC system, you’ll definitely want to install quality air filters but in order to really get all of the allergenic matter out of the air you breathe, getting home air purifiers for your bedroom and any other rooms in your home where you spend a lot of time.
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Criticism of the ionic air purifier industry is fashionable. “Absence of scientific peer reviews” has been a frequent criticism posted on influenza, air quality and indoor pollution blogs.
Mr. John Moore, an “insider” of the peer review system, may surprise believers of the peer review system.
He says:
• “a lust for profit has led to too many journals,…all too easy to find…poor-quality work”
• “not everything in the peer-reviewed literature is correct. Indeed, some of it is downright bad science”
• “the peer review system…it’s the least-bad system that can be devised”.
Members of the public, warns Mr. Moore, must never mistake every scientific peer review as the “gold standard” as “even reviewed literature can be cherry-picked to support any argument.” It is enlightening that “professional scientists…know that scientific truth evolves on the basis of a mounting consensus, not through an isolated paper that adopts a maverick position, even if it has been peer-reviewed.”
These nuggets of wisdom from an “insider” like Mr. Moore is of great value to all industries, including the ionic air purifier industry, that are constantly lambasted by critics.
Critics of the ionic air purifier demand the gold standard, nothing less. So do the overseeing bodies. How did we find that out? We just asked. The US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) responded thus:
“NIOSH is not aware of any peer-reviewed scientific studies that demonstrate the effectiveness of ion generators/ionic air purifiers against viruses. NIOSH does not have any studies planned to evaluate these devices nor do we have a policy on their use.”
But it was encouraging that the NIOSH has not pronounced final judgment as they also said:
“NIOSH provides support for investigator initiated research. Should someone want to conduct such studies they may apply for funding by mechanisms available and described under “Funding Opportunities” at: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/oep/. Proposals are funded annually based on availability of funds, relevance of the proposed work to the NIOSH mission, and the quality of the science proposed.”
At our Ezine article (accessible via The Ionic Air Purifier Blog Ezine widget), we have reproduced the NIOSH’s exacting parameters of a scientific peer review.
Shortage of funding is definitely not the issue. Neither is it outright rejection by the authorities. Why then isn’t there any scientific peer review of the ionic air purifier after all these decades? We would sure love to hear from someone in the ionic air purifier industry.
In our view, with the advancements in ionic air purifier technologies, manufacturers see the advantages of tapping on the prestige of official funding. It may take just one successful scientific peer review to make all the difference? Of course, the ideal should be Mr. Moore’s “mounting consensus” in the scientific community in attesting to the safety, efficacy and effectiveness of the ionic air purifier.
Ionic Air Purifier – Without Scientific Reviews, Do We Just Give Up On It?
For the time being, users hunting for the ideal ionic air purifier can look to our Ionic Air Purifier Review – 4 Key Factors Model.
It is encouraging that we now know that a scientific peer review to be acceptable to any authority, it must cover the 2 safety aspects in our 4 Key Factors Model.
NIOSH states very clearly: “…a scientifically valid study would need to be designed to test whether ion generators are effective in killing viruses to the extent that a hazard no longer remains, and that such technology does not by itself generate new hazards of its own, e.g., ozone or oxidized by-products. The design of such a study would be challenging.”
Sign up at the Ionic Air Purifier Blog to follow our ongoing research.
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No doubt you think you know all the inhabitants of your house well – family, friends, housemates, maybe a pet. But most UK homes have unseen unwelcome house guests. They are mean and ugly, they look like a science fiction film, oh and they could well be living in your bed. I’m talking of course about dust mites, the secret invaders in the home, which can’t be seen by the naked eye but manage to cause trouble wherever they go.
Aside from being thoroughly unpleasant to think they could be living in your carpets and bedding, dust mites are also among the most common triggers of asthma, eczema and an endless list of other inconvenient allergies. Technically it’s not the mites themselves but their droppings that disagree with people, as they contain an enzyme that is highly allergenic to over 20% of the population. They feast on the 50 million dead skin cells every human sheds each day, and it can be a nightmare getting rid of them completely. Tough, but not impossible. If you think there might be dust mites in your home, here are three tips that could help:
Keep it Clean – the most obvious way to get rid of dust mites is to remove the dust. They nest in ‘dust bunnies’ and in the carpet so regular hoovering, every day if necessary, will not only suck many of them out of the carpet but cut off the food supply to those that are left behind. Keep windows open where possible as they don’t like sunlight, and are so small that many of them will get blown away completely in a breeze!
Keep it Fresh –You might not think air quality would have much effect on dust mites considering they live in the carpet and furnishings, but in fact the right air conditioner could make all the difference. Even if you hoover every day the dust particles still have time to settle and for the mites to make new homes. Installing an air purifier with a HEPA filter literally removes all particles larger than 0.0003mm from the air before they get the chance to settle, meaning less food for mites.
Keep it Dry – Dust mites thrive in conditions where the relative humidity (RH) of the air is 50% or higher. Different people have different ideas of the recommended RH in a home and it varies depending on where you live, but it is usually around 45%. If humidity levels in your home are above 50% it’s worth taking steps to reduce it as this will not only stop the mites but can also improve the general health of the occupants. Basic things like keeping windows open when cooking or showering can make a difference but if the problem persists then using a dehumidifier is a quick and easy way to remove moisture from the air, maintaining the optimum RH and killing dust mites dead!
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User safety tops all criteria in the selection of an ionic air purifier for use in the home, office, factory or school.
Existing ionic air purifier technology, regardless of whether they originate in North America, Europe, Japan or China produce a primary beneficial reactive agent. These reactive agents may be negative ions, bipolar ions, plasmacluster ions and so on. Their main role is to eliminate airborne contaminants in our indoor living environment. Much has been published on the efficacy of these reactive agents in eliminating contaminants. What we do not know is whether these same potent reactive agents also cause harm to fragile human tissues such as those that line our breathing passages from the trachea to the lungs.
Whether by design or otherwise, there is also an information void about whether there are other by-products and if these are harmful to fragile human tissues as well. In the industry, however, it is known that current ionic air purifier technology inadvertently results in the production of by-products. In sufficient quantities, these may prove harmful to human tissue. One of the main by-products which attracts much attention is ozone, which in high concentrations is known to be harmful to human tissues.
Accordingly, for the ionic air purifier user, the issue of safety has to be addressed from these two perspectives:
(1) Potential harm from the beneficial reactive agents, and
(2) Potential harm from the unintended by-products.
We have done intensive web research on these two important perspectives. The reports are featured on Ezinearticles.com.
Don’t miss these 2 in-depth Ezine articles. To read, click on the Ezine Author Badge on The Ionic Air Purifier Blog.
Ezinearticles.com, within their terms and conditions, allows publishers to freely reproduce these two articles. So help yourself, publish the two articles on your websites as a complete set, via these links:
(1) Beneficial reactive agents
(2) Unintended by-products
In addition, keep updated with our progress as we research other aspects of the very broad and constantly changing field of ionic air purifier technologies.
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Safety assumes top priority in the selection of an ionic air purifier for use in the home, office, factory or school.
Existing ionic air purifier technology, regardless of whether they originate in North America, Europe, Japan or China produce a primary beneficial reactive agent.Depending on the specific technology, these reactive agents may be called negative ions, bipolar ions, plasmacluster ions and so on. Their main role is to eliminate airborne contaminants in our indoor living environment. Much has been written on the efficacy of these reactive agents in destroying contaminants. What we do not know is whether these same potent reactive agents also cause harm to fragile human tissues such as those that line our breathing passages from the trachea to the lungs.
There is also an information vacuum about whether there are other by-products and if these are harmful to human tissues as well. In the industry, however, it is known that current ionic air purifier technology inadvertently results in the production of by-products. In sufficient quantities, these may prove harmful to human tissue. Ozone is one of the potentially toxic by-products. In high concentrations, ozone has been proven to damage human tissues.
In the light of the above, the issue of safety for the user of an ionic air purifier has to be addressed from these two perspectives:
Though not exhaustive, our intensive research on these two perspectives have been condensed into two detailed write-ups that have been featured on Ezinearticles.com.
Subject to their terms and conditions, Ezinearticles.com allows publishers to freely reproduce these two articles. So help yourself, publish the two articles on your websites as a complete set, via these links:
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