Ozone Producing Air Purifiers and Your Health
If you are reading this, you are already interested and probably concerned about breathing ozone. You are certainly right to be concerned. Ozone is not something we should breathe. That is why the BlueAir 501 Air Purifier only produces about .003 ppm (parts per million) of ozone. But what is ozone?
Ozone is actually 3 molecules of Oxygen. That sounds fairly benign when you first hear it, because we all want to breathe oxygen. But everything in moderation, right? You see, one of the oxygen molecules is always trying to escape the ozone. That is one way of saying it is very reactive. When that gets into our very sensitive lung tissues, it starts damaging the cells. So , no. Ozone is not something we should breathe, even though it is mad up of oxygen.
Many air cleaners today produce ozone, either because it smells good, and people like that “fresh air” smell, or because it is a byproduct of an ionizing air cleaner. It is usually the second reason. Many air cleaner manufacturers think that they can improve the air quality of your home by ionizing the air. This essentially “charges” some of the particles in the air negatively, and then those particles stick to most any surface. Some fall to the ground while others will stick to walls, ceilings, really anything that is not negatively charged. This method does work in removing those particles from the air, but the side effect can be ozone generation.
The Blueair 501 series air purifier is much better than most at ionizing without all the ozone generation. This is due to the very high tech approach used to manufacturer the Blueair systems. They enclose the ionization chamber with steel which causes any generated ozone to collide with the steel and loose that extra oxygen molecule we mentioned earlier. This actually turns ozone into oxygen.
Be sure to do your research on ozone and ionizing air purifiers before you run out and purchase one. They are not all equal. BlueAir air purifiers are significantly different and for all the right reasons.
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Asthma Control – With Air Purifiers
Does someone in your household have asthma? If they do, then you are already familiar with the idea that the allergens in your house can make it worse. When my son was first diagnosed with asthma, I was told we would have to get rid of the dog and cat. Well, that wasn’t as easy as it sounded. You see, our pets were a part of our family, and my son loved them as much as anyone. I won’t get into that story here, but let’s just say, we didn’t get rid of them. Pets can cause allergic people to have worse asthma symptoms, that is the truth. But you can do things to reduce or eliminate those indoor allergens. Of course, one thing you can do is filter the air ( or purify the air). There is a lot of dispute about this as to which air cleaner to buy and which technology is the best. I believe they all work to some degree and each type has some benefits. Just do your research and find the one you think will work.
So you can control or reduce your asthma symptoms with a home air purifier. Here are some dos and don’t about selecting the right one.
Do find an air cleaner that actually filters the air. The ones that just send negative charged ions ( called ionic) do little to filter. An ionic subsystem to a filtering air purifier might be okay, but there has to be filtration.
Do make sure the filter is a HEPA filter. This stands for High Efficiency Particulate filter, and it has to remove at least 99.97% of airborne particles 0.3 micrometers in diameter.
Do keep your basement dry and clean. Basements are may have mold growing that will get into the house.
Do wash rugs, shampoo carpet and clean furniture often.
Some things to avoid
It would be best not to have a woodburning stove. These just add so much particulate to the house, even a good air filter may have trouble keeping up.
Don’t use strong smelling things, like candles, perfumes, “air fresheners”, etc. These often trigger asthma attacks.
Finally don’t do things that you know increases the level of particulates in the house, such as, burning candles, dusting ( when it just moves the dust around), shaking out rugs.
A good HEPA filter with the ionic additional technology. Just be aware of those that produce Ozone. Ozone is not good for anyone, especially asthma sufferers.
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