It probably is. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that the air in our homes and offices is two to five times more polluted than the outdoor air. The EPA has ranked indoor air pollution as a high priority public health risk. The World Health Organization and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute have also concluded that preventing exposure to environmental allergens and irritants may help prevent asthma. If you’re like most people, you spend up to 90% of your time indoors. If you can find a way to reduce airborne pollutants and allergens that you breathe, you may be able to increase your vitality and health and reduce allergies and asthma attacks.

According to the American Lung Association (ALA), air pollution in our homes can be reduced in three different ways, by controlling the source of pollution, by increasing ventilation and by cleaning the air. These are listed in their order of effectiveness, so this means that it is most important to reduce the amount of pollution you are creating or bringing into your home.

We don’t always think of the following as sources of air pollution, but depending on the type of product, all of these can be significant sources of pollution and irritation in our homes: paints & varnishes, furniture, insulation and building materials (especially particle board and plywood), carpets, combustion appliances (gas heaters, stoves, etc.), smoking, cleaning and personal care products, pets, dust mites, mold and fine particulate matter from outdoor pollution and forest fires.

In order to control the sources of pollution in your home, you need to do as many of the following suggestions as possible:

Use low emission paints, varnishes, carpets and furniture, including beds, mattresses and bedding items
Use only non-toxic, natural, cleaning and personal care products
Vacuum and clean regularly to keep the level of dust mites down
Maintain low humidity in your home, by using exhaust fans or opening windows after a bath or shower
Replace wall-to-wall synthetic carpeting with tile, hardwood floors or some other natural, non-toxic, hard flooring
Service your combustion appliances regularly so as to decrease combustion emissions such as carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides
Get rid of combustion appliances if at all possible, especially if your are chemically sensitive
Keep doors and windows shut when outdoor pollution levels are at unhealthy levels from smog and/or forest fires
Banish your pets to the outside or garage if pet dander is troublesome

Although all of the above are excellent suggestions, it is very difficult and very expensive to control all of the sources of pollution in our homes. Building and furnishing “green” homes is definitely a wave of the future, but most people don’t have a non-toxic “green” home today and don’t have the money to redo their house in a totally “green” way. Also, there are some things like forest fires and smog that we don’t have much day-to-day control over.

So the second suggestion to help you reduce indoor air pollution is increasing ventilation. In other words, get more fresh air into your home! Open windows and doors, turn on kitchen and bathroom exhaust fans and mechanical ventilation systems, such as the fan on your central heat and air system, if it is vented to the outside.

This biggest problem with this second suggestion is that both the weather and the outdoor pollution do not always make it feasible to bring in outside air.

Cleaning the Air

The third suggestion for reducing the pollution in your home is to use an air purification device to clean the air. Even though air cleaners by themselves are not the best solution to keeping your indoor air clean (source control is the best!), they can definitely be a part of the solution.

According to the American Lung Association, air cleaning is recognized as one of the three strategies to improve indoor air quality. It has become increasingly popular as more and more people are developing asthma, allergies and sinus problems. For example, it is estimated that over 17 million people now have asthma, and the mortality rate due to asthma has almost doubled in the past decade (according to the ALA). Air cleaning has been widely used in industrial settings to control particulates, gases and vapors, and is now increasingly being turned to for use in residential settings. However, there is a big difference in air purifiers, and the inexpensive ones simply do not do a good job of cleaning the air.

In conclusion, most of us are breathing polluted air in our homes and offices for most of the day. You can reduce this indoor air pollution by reducing the sources of pollution, by opening windows and bringing in fresh air, and by using a high quality air purifiers.

Karen Pijuan
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/indoor-air-is-25-times-more-polluted-than-outdoor-air–is-yours-131090.html

Many asthmatics are aware that an asthma trigger can make breathing difficult for someone afflicted with this illness.

What Are The Most Common Triggers?

They are allergens and irritants. Allergens, things that cause “hay fever,” can inflame an asthmatic’s already sensitive lungs. Irritants are often things in the environment that when inhaled can bother anyone, whether you have asthma or not. But these inhalants can be an asthma trigger for someone with the illness.

Asthmatics can be exposed to irritants and allergens both outdoors and indoors however; an indoor asthma trigger can be more easily recognized and eliminated or reduced. Many solutions exist for dealing with an indoor triggers.

What Are The Common 4 Asthma Triggers Indoor?

1) Dealing with Dust Mites

Dust mite droppings are an allergen that can be an asthma trigger. Every house has dust mites. These tiny creatures exist by consuming shed dead skin cells. They’re most common in bedding and carpets and their droppings are a part of household dust. You can reduce dust mite droppings by using smooth furniture, like vinyl. Get rid of carpeting and reduce excess moisture in the air because it also helps cut down on dust mite numbers.

2) Mind Your Mold Indoor

Mold is a common allergen and asthma trigger. These tiny plants grow on moist surfaces and they look dark and fuzzy, and often have a musty odor and certain types of mold can cause serious illnesses in babies. Bathrooms, the refrigerator and air conditioner drip pans are moist locations where mold can often be found.

You can prevent mold growth in your home by reducing moisture in the air so throw out old cardboard, newspaper, and clothes – anything that can stay wet and damp for long periods of time and clean bathrooms and kitchens at last once a week.

3) Reducing Animal Dander

Another asthma trigger is the dead skin cells of pets. More people are allergic to cat dander than dog dander. However, mice, gerbils, hamsters and birds can also have dander.

Fish, reptiles and amphibians are good alternative pets that do not have fur, and therefore no dander. If removing a furred animal from the home is not an option, there are a few things you can do to reduce dander.

Bathe the animal weekly and use HEPA filters throughout the home. Never let the pet sleep in your bedroom and vacuum and clean the pet areas often.

4) No Smoking At Home

Getting rid of tobacco smoke is one of factors that may help preven any asthma trigger. It is harmful to everyone and not just asthmatics. It is best for everyone in the family if the smoker quits.

If this isn’t possible, have people smoke outside but be aware even the smell of tobacco smoke on clothing can trigger an asthma attack. Never allow smoking in the car.

Several more allergens and irritants exist in the home. Unlike the outdoors though, you have more control over your indoor environment. Creating an asthma trigger free home is a lot of work, but possible and worth the effort.

Even though you may now know the most common 4 factors to an asthma triggers indoor, with all these information available of no use, action is power when applying knowledge which will then free yourself the agony of having asthma again. You should never add to, or alter any component of your current asthma treatment without first consulting your physician.

However, many asthmatics sometimes tend to forget that even though there may be these common 4 factors to an asthma triggers, they should be be conscious and aware that in order to have an asthma-free lifestyle, a proper and yet effective asthma recovery system is necessary. Even without a proper asthma management system, there will not be much asthma free lifestyle to hope for.

Applying the knowledge of knowing what are the 4 basic common factors together with an effective system – enjoy your life once again.

Eddy Kong Ww
http://www.articlesbase.com/non-fiction-articles/asthma-trigger-top-4-factors-that-will-trigger-this-68194.html

Have you ever given any attention to your breathing? You probably haven’t, because we all generally take breathing for granted. The reason is that breathing is a subconscious activity. However, this is not possible for an asthmatic patient, as breathing is highly praised every moment.

In an asthma sufferer, the lungs and air passageways are affected. Consequently, it becomes very hard for them to breathe normally or properly. There is no absolute known prescription available for this condition. However, there are certain things that can be applied to curb the symptoms of asthma. The use of an air purifier can help to cure it.

Asthma includes two key components: constriction, and inflammation, which takes place in the air passageways. Due to constriction, the airways get narrowed as the surrounding muscles begin to tighten around them. On the other hand, inflammation causes irritation in the airways. Because of inflammation, the airways get swollen up.

All of these problems lead to asthma. As a result, the sufferer finds it hard to breathe properly, and the swelling of the lungs causes an asthma attack. During an asthma attack, the sufferer begins to cough and wheeze in an effort to breathe properly. This can happen at any time and any moment, and can sometimes be severe.

Air purifiers can be very beneficial to asthma patients. There are a number of impurities in the air that can increase asthma. These air impurities include allergens like dust, pet dander, chemicals or pollen. If an asthma sufferer takes in these airborne substances, it makes it tough for them to breathe normally.

An air purifier is used to remove contaminants from indoor air. Thus, a better and cleaner environment can be created for the sufferer indoors. There will be less probability of an asthma attack due to fewer toxins in the air.

It has been proved that most air purifiers are capable of filtering 99.7 percent of all particles from indoor air. An air purifier cleans the air by drawing the air from the room into the system with the help of a fan. After that, the clean air is released back into the room.

It may be a little tough to make a proper selection between the various air purifiers available in the market. While buying an air purifier, it is important to be familiar with the working of the air purifier system. The purpose is to eliminate contaminants, harmful chemicals and odors, so you must look for an air purifier that possesses activated carbon or a UV purification system. It is also essential to get knowledge about the power of the machine and its overall effectiveness.

In conclusion, it is quite good to find a comparative table for air purifiers manufactured under different brands and compare them. This will give you the details about the various brands and models of air purifiers, and grade them on the basis of their effectiveness.

Stefan Rockhaus
http://www.articlesbase.com/advertising-articles/the-use-of-air-purifiers-for-asthma-patients-52662.html

It is believed that air pollution will cause an estimated forty to fifty million Americans to suffer from air related allergies. It is also thought that another seventeen million will be battling asthma, which could end up causing many health issues and rack up high health care costs. A typical American home will have fungi, germs, viruses and bacteria growing within its confines. When these indoor pollutants are inhaled, it can cause colds, pneumonia, flu and other respiratory ailments. All of these illnesses can be directly related to the quality of air that we breathe.

The Importance of Clean Air in the Home

It is important that everyone takes steps to ensure that the air that they breathe at home is clean and free from pollutants as much as possible. The Oreck air purifier will be able to do the job for you, since it is known as the hallmark of dependability and quality. The Oreck air purifier has stood the test of time and quality, and it comes with a three year guarantee. Most people that have used an Oreck air purifier will rave about the satisfaction they have received from it.

The Professional Oreck Air Purifier is immensely popular, and the company claims that it can completely purify air in a 30′x30′ room every hour. This machine will also destroy bacteria, pet dander, allergens and household dust. The Oreck XL Professional Air Purifier has a five-stage purification process that makes it more powerful than a HEPA filter in air filtration.

The five stages of this Oreck Air Purifier include a pre-filter, positive charging wire, a collector, charcoal odor trappers and an air-revitatlizer. Oreck is a company that offers a number of different types of products including its air purifiers. Oreck air purifiers are perhaps one of their best known products, and they are remarkably useful given the air pollution that people suffer from everyday.

Oreck air purifiers have electronic filtration with efficiency ratings of 95%, and are designed to trap and remove dust and allergens from the air. Oreck air purifiers can clean a room measuring 4.5.x 9 meters in less than twenty minutes, removing dust, pollen and tobacco smoke. These air purifiers help to reduce the daily dusting chores, because they can trap most airborne dust that would have otherwise settled on surfaces in the home.

Oreck air purifiers are designed with electrostatic ionization to filter out tiny airborne particles, which are attracted to the statically charged collector plates. Along with the electrostatically charged collector’s plates, they also have a charcoal filter to remove foul odors. The Oreck air purifiers are more energy efficient, and require less energy to push air through its filter system, which results in quieter operation as well.

Ann Marier
http://www.articlesbase.com/home-improvement-articles/oreck-air-purifiers-are-very-popular-and-energy-efficient-132630.html

Looking for the best air purifier at a price you can afford? You’ll want to start your search by considering options from leading makers of air filters and purifiers, including Oreck, Honeywell, General Electric, Holmes, Hunter and Bionaire. A good purifier doesn’t have to break the bank, either – reliable models are available for under $100.

Why buy an air purifier, anyway? First and foremost, for your health! A good purifier can remove contaminants in the air that could otherwise lead to some serious health problems and medical bills. For asthmatics and allergy sufferers, air purifiers are one of the best ways to reduce exposure to materials that could bring on an allergy or asthma attack, such as pet dander, dust, plant pollen, spores from mold, and other indoor allergens. The alternative is extensive and frequent housecleaning, which can be an exhausting and difficult regimen to maintain.

Air purifiers also remove second-hand smoke from the air, creating a safer atmosphere for non-smokers who share a household with smokers. This is especially important for children of parents who smoke, who are especially vulnerable to the effects of secondhand smoke.

A key measurement to look for when shopping for an air purifier is its CADR, or Clean Air Delivery Rating, which specifies how effective it is in filtering the air of impurities. The higher a purifiers CADR number, the better it is at cleaning the air.

Air purifiers use a number of innovative technologies to filter undesirable contaminants from indoor air. HEPA purifiers use an extremely fine filter to remove particles as small as .01 microns across. Ionizing purifiers use electrically charged mechanisms to generate ions, charged particles which bond with impurities, causing them to be attracted to a collection plate with the opposite charge – just like a magnet attracts metal objects. UV purifiers use intense ultraviolet light to kill pathogens in the air such as bacteria, mold, and viruses, rather than filtering them out. Ozone purifiers emit ozone gas, an oxidizing chemical that destroys impurities via a quick chemical reaction. Before choosing an ozone purifier, however, you should be aware that ozone in significant concentrations can also post a health hazard. Most other types of purifiers on the market use variations on these mechanisms to either filter, attract, or destroy contaminants in the air.

Once you’ve done your research and decided on an air purifier model, you should have no trouble finding a great deal at shopping sites like Amazon and eBay. With plenty of experienced and efficient online merchants to choose from, your new air purifier is just a few clicks away!

Lou Drake
http://www.articlesbase.com/environment-articles/finding-the-right-air-purifier-140731.html

You may love to garden, but perhaps the weather does not allow you to grow the flowers that you love most. Or, you may live in an apartment complex that does not have a yard area available for your hobby. You may even live in the midst of a large city, with no green grass in sight! In these cases, indoor gardening is always an option. This way, you can grow the plants you want right inside the four walls of your home, no matter where it happens to be located.

As we all know, plants remove carbon dioxide from the air and put oxygen back into it. This is a health benefit and another reason to pursue indoor gardening. In addition to this, plants also remove toxins and pollutants from the air. So, not only is it healthy for you, it may just get rid of some of the dust and allergens in the air which cause you problems.

Since lighting is so important in a plant’s life, as it is needed for growth, it is a major consideration when beginning indoor gardening. The amount of light your home receives naturally, and how much it has, will determine which plants will be able to survive. Usually plants requiring medium to low light do well in homes, unless you plan on using artificial lighting. It is also important to condition your plant after you buy it. Since your house has limited light, slowly adjust your plant to this situation by initially providing a maximum lighting for it and gradually decreasing this over several weeks, until a desired condition is obtained. With this in mind, during summer months put your plant outside for direct sunlight exposure. This will energize its growth pattern. Also, if you watch, you will notice a plant will turn toward sunlight, so unless you want a plant pitched in a certain direction, rotate it on a regular basis.

When heating your house in winter, humidity indoors will decrease. Plants require moisture in the air. So during these months you will want to increase the humidity levels. Using a humidifier, or spraying the plant’s leaves with water can do this.

As in an outdoor garden, an indoor garden also needs to be watered. Too little watering, as well as, too much watering is likely to be detrimental to your plants. You should also provide your plant with a container that drains out through the bottom. This allows excess fertilizer and salts to drain out of the soil and the plant has access to its nutrients. Fertilization is based on the type of plant you have. It can be done every two to three months, although never during the dormant season.

Plants do well in temperatures between 65-75 degrees Fahrenheit during the day and 10-15 degrees cooler at night. Make sure your plant is not placed where either hot or cold drafts occur. Sudden temperature changes can damage the plant. Placed on a cool windowsill, in the middle of winter, may cause the plant to freeze.

If you enjoy having a piece of the outdoors in your home all year round, you will enjoy indoor gardening. Indoor gardening provides everyone with an opportunity to develop a green thumb. By following the different amounts of light, fertilizer and water, your plant requires, you will successfully beautify your home with a thriving indoor garden. You no longer have to wait until summer to see your beautiful flowers blossom again.

Matthew Hick
http://www.articlesbase.com/gardening-articles/indoor-gardening-weather-permitting-87410.html

The deteriorating quality of indoor air is now a matter of growing health concern. Pollutant levels are 2 to 5 times higher inside the home than out, according to the EPA. Apart from gases and chemicals, these pollutants include airborne particles and particulate matter, which can be allergens causing different types of allergies. An allergy relief air purifier can improve indoor air quality, thereby reducing the chances of people having allergies. Apart from controlling the source and improving ventilation, an allergy relief air purifier is the best way to tackle this problem.

A good allergy relief air purifier is capable of greatly improving the quality of indoor air. But you must carefully choose from the numerous types and brands of purifiers that are now available in the market. It is because some of the air purifiers can cause some of the very problems they are meant to get rid of.

An allergy relief air purifier may be of various types. HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) Purifier is one of them. These air purifiers filter a minimum of 99.97% of particles 0.3 microns and larger, which include allergens and contaminants like dust mites, dust mite feces, mold spores, pollen and animal dander. They offer cleaner air to help you breathe better. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security recommends HEPA air purifiers, and it’s the highest current standard in air filtration. When you purchase a HEPA purifier, you should take into account the size and quality of the filter medium.

Activated carbon filter is another type of purifier that helps removal of gases, odors and toxins. In such purifiers, chemicals, gases, and odors stick to the carbon and are “adsorbed” onto its huge surface area, bonding to the surface through chemical attraction.
An electrostatic precipitator can also be called an allergy relief air purifier which ionizes particles as they are passed over an electronic cell, after which they are attracted and trapped by oppositely charged collector plates. Although you don’t need to replace filters with this product, you have to wash the collector plate regularly to keep the purifier effective. Many ionization air cleaners generate ozone, which is a documented health hazard and lung irritant. The EPA has strongly discouraged the use of ozone generators as air purifiers.

As different homes have different air contaminant sources to deal with, including both airborne particulates and allergens, and household chemicals and odors, it is always better to find an air purifier which combines a HEPA filter with some amount of carbon. This combination, apart from acting as an allergy relief air purifier, will remove the widest variety of indoor pollutants.

Masni Rizal Mansor
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/guide-to-allergy-relief-air-purifier-63488.html

Astounding as it may sound, over 50% of all illnesses are either caused or aggravated by indoor air pollution. Both organic and inorganic contaminants can be held responsible for this. Among the organic contaminants present in air there are bacteria, viruses, fungi, mold, etc. These can cause severe health hazards like asthma, headache, respiratory allergies, sinusitis, fibromyalgia, aspergillosis etc.

Till recently it was believed that HEPA purifiers are good enough to tackle the problem. Any HEPA purifier has the ability to trap contaminants of the size of 0.3 microns and above. Though such filtration takes care of a lot of contaminants, there are still a significant number of contaminants which still need to be dealt with. But they being less than 0.3 microns in size, are not trapped by the HEPA purifier.

The recent innovation has been ultraviolet air purifier. These come either in conjunction with HEPA purifiers or as stand alone machines. The ultraviolet air purifiers work on a totally different concept. Studies have shown that UV rays are effective in dealing with microorganisms of size even less than 0.3 microns in size.

An UV air purifier actually doesn’t kill the organism. Instead the rays just alter the DNA and RNA profile of the organisms. This makes them sterile so that they in a way become harmless. With no option of reproducing they can hardly cause any damage. So even if virus and bacteria do enter our respiratory tract they hardly get a chance to grow there.

We cannot definitively say when exactly would you need to change the filter. Much of it depends on what kind of room the air purifier is. If the room has too much traffic and also a lot of activities then the filters would be saturated earlier than normal. The opposite is also true when the filter has it easy in a less frequented room.

However, there have been issues of contention with UV air purifiers too. One allegation is that the UV rays hardly get any time to act on the contaminants. It is documented that ultraviolet is effective on allergens but only under certain conditions. Ultraviolet light can alter the DNA and RNA profiles of the allergens only after they are exposed to the light for a considerable period of time. The dosage or concentration of light on the contaminants is also crucial. Skeptics claim that within an air purifier, the ultraviolet light doesn’t get enough time to act. Since a fan is always working the organisms never settle down. With the contaminants unsteady the UV rays cannot work on them.

This may be true, but only partially, as ultraviolet will manage to make some impact on the pollutants. However, there might be those lucky few, who will be able to escape.

Barney Garcia
http://www.articlesbase.com/technology-articles/beware-of-ultraviolet-air-purifier-that-causes-illness-71930.html

Indoor air pollution is a serious problem. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), air pollution levels are two to five times higher indoors. In some buildings with a lack of proper ventilation, the indoor air may be 100 times more polluted than the air outside! This is because modern buildings are constructed with energy efficiency in mind. However, the tight seals that make a home energy-efficient also trap pollutants inside. On top of that, the average American takes nine out of ten breaths indoors, so it’s imperative to make sure that your indoor air is free of allergens and other impurities.

Air purifiers eliminate allergens, toxic chemicals, and other dangerous pollutants. This article explains why people use air purifiers, how they work, which air purifiers you should avoid, and how to select the best air purifier for your needs.

Common Indoor Air Pollutants

What is the source of indoor air pollution? In terms of organic pollutants, mold and dust mites are everywhere – and they are the two most common causes of year-round allergic rhinitis (hay fever). Pollen is also a pervasive allergen that always finds its way into your home since it is so small and sticky. If you have pets, they will surely spread their dander to every nook and cranny of your home. Many viruses and bacteria are also airborne.

Even though they are not organic allergens, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) cause many people to experience allergic reactions and other health problems. VOCs include formaldehyde, fragrances, pesticides, solvents, and cleaning agents. VOCs can enter the air through chemical off-gassing from furniture, new carpets, adhesives, plastics, and various building materials. Furthermore, many VOCs are known carcinogens (cancer-causing agents).

Environmental contaminants like cigarette smoke, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen dioxide may also be present in your indoor air, as well as toxic heavy metals like airborne lead, mercury vapor, and radon.

How Air Purifiers Work

HEPA air purifiers use a HEPA air filter, which was developed by the Atomic Energy Commission in the 1940s as a way to filter radioactive contaminants. HEPA filters set the standard for air purifiers: to be classified as HEPA, a filter must capture a minimum of 99.97% of pollutants at 0.3 microns or larger. Top-selling HEPA air purifiers include the Austin Air purifier, available with a HEGA (High Efficiency Gas Adsoprtion) filter, along with air purifiers from IQAir, Allerair, Blueair, and Honeywell.

Activated carbon filters remove gases, odors, and chemical toxins. The carbon is “activated” when it is treated with oxygen, which opens up millions of tiny pores to attract and adsorb chemicals. Impregnated carbon filters have been treated with an additional chemical, normally either potassium iodide or potassium permanganate; these chemicals, known as chemisorbents, improve the carbon filter’s ability to trap VOCs and other chemically reactive gases.

Electrostatic filters use an electrostatic charge to attract pollutants and trap them on collector plates. These filters are great for people who don’t want to have to worry about changing HEPA filters, but if the collection plates are not cleaned frequently, they quickly lose efficiency. Also, beware that some electrostatic filters emit ozone, which is known to be a powerful lung irritant and can be very irritating to some people with asthma or allergies. The Friedrich air purifier is, by far, the best electrostatic air purifier, as well as the overall top-ranked air purifier in previous Consumer Reports rankings

Charged media filters give pollutants an electrostatic charge before collecting them in a traditional filter. Charged media filters are typically quite effective, but like electrostatic filters, they lose efficiency rapidly-and they may require frequent and expensive filter changes. Some charged media air filter units also emit ozone. The advantage of charged media filters is that they are quieter and more energy-efficient than HEPA air purifiers. The Blueair air purifier is the best charged media filter, and it does not emit ozone.

Where and How to Use an Air Purifier

If you suffer from allergies (especially if you’re allergic to dust mite allergen), then the best place for an air purifier is your bedroom. It’s essential to have clean air in your bedroom because you spend about a third of your life there. If you’re allergic to animal dander and have pets, then you may want to place an air purifier in the room where your pets spend most of their time-and keep the pets out of your bedroom! Also, you should not place an air purifier in the corner of a room; it should be at least a couple of feet away from the walls for maximum air flow.

You should run your air purifier continuously for optimum performance. Most air purifiers have high and low settings. Even if you go on vacation, we recommend that you keep your air purifier running on low. Otherwise, you’ll return to a house full of polluted air! If you are concerned about your electric bill, find out how much energy an air purifier uses before buying it. Typical HEPA air purifiers can use anywhere from 50 watts on low to 200 watts on high. For comparison, a typical lamp uses about 60 watts, while a typical computer uses about 365 watts.

Air Purifiers to Avoid

Avoid ozone generators and ionizing air cleaners. These air purifiers create ions that attract pollutants; however, many of the pollutants are released back into the air, often times leading to dirty spots on nearby walls. Besides the fact that they don’t do a good job of cleaning the air, ozone generators and ionizing cleaners also emit ozone. Ozone, a main component of smog, could potentially lead to a serious asthma attack.

Moreover, David Peden, researcher at the Center of Environmental Medicine and Lung Biology at the University of North Carolina, has examined how ozone exposure might exacerbate the allergic response of people who are allergic to dust mites, and his results suggest that ozone worsens the asthmatic response. The EPA has warned consumers against using ozone generators, and Consumer Reports recommends against the newest Ionic Breeze Quadra, despite the addition of OzoneGuard, a device meant to eliminate some of the dangerous ozone emitted by the Ionic Breeze.

Consumer Reports points out: “Our air-cleaning tests show that the Ionic Breeze with OzoneGuard does a poor job of removing smoke, dust and pollen particles from the air when new and after 500 hours of continuous use” and “the Ionic Breeze with OzoneGuard still adds ozone to the air.”

How to Buy the Best Air Purifier

The air purifier market is vast and riddled with confusing and often misleading advertising schemes. If you’re shopping for an air purifier, then you should first consider what kind of pollutants you’re trying to eliminate. For example, if you have problems with cigarette smoke, then you’ll want to make sure your air purifier has the ability to eliminate fumes, VOCs, and other gases. You may also want to consider the following factors before buying an air purifier: the area coverage (make sure the square footage listed for the air purifier is about the same or slightly greater than the square footage of the room where you intend to use it); the ACH rating (Air Changes Per Hour-this number lets you know how frequently the air purifier can exchange all the air in a given room); the CADR (the Clean Air Delivery Rate tells you how much air is purified and how well it is purified); the price; how often you have to replace the filters and how much they cost; the noise level of the air purifier; energy usage; whether it emits ozone; extra features (like a filter change indicator light); the manufacturer’s reputation; and the warranty.

Visit achooallergy.com to learn more and browse a large selection of top brand air purifiers.

M. Scott Smith
http://www.articlesbase.com/home-improvement-articles/how-to-select-the-best-air-purifier-for-your-needs-464643.html

It probably is. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that the air in our homes and offices is two to five times more polluted than the outdoor air. The EPA has ranked indoor air pollution as a high priority public health risk. The World Health Organization and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute have also concluded that preventing exposure to environmental allergens and irritants may help prevent asthma. If you’re like most people, you spend up to 90% of your time indoors. If you can find a way to reduce airborne pollutants and allergens that you breathe, you may be able to increase your vitality and health and reduce allergies and asthma attacks.

According to the American Lung Association (ALA), air pollution in our homes can be reduced in three different ways, by controlling the source of pollution, by increasing ventilation and by cleaning the air. These are listed in their order of effectiveness, so this means that it is most important to reduce the amount of pollution you are creating or bringing into your home.

We don’t always think of the following as sources of air pollution, but depending on the type of product, all of these can be significant sources of pollution and irritation in our homes: paints & varnishes, furniture, insulation and building materials (especially particle board and plywood), carpets, combustion appliances (gas heaters, stoves, etc.), smoking, cleaning and personal care products, pets, dust mites, mold and fine particulate matter from outdoor pollution and forest fires.

In order to control the sources of pollution in your home, you need to do as many of the following suggestions as possible:

Use low emission paints, varnishes, carpets and furniture, including beds, mattresses and bedding items
Use only non-toxic, natural, cleaning and personal care products
Vacuum and clean regularly to keep the level of dust mites down
Maintain low humidity in your home, by using exhaust fans or opening windows after a bath or shower
Replace wall-to-wall synthetic carpeting with tile, hardwood floors or some other natural, non-toxic, hard flooring
Service your combustion appliances regularly so as to decrease combustion emissions such as carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides
Get rid of combustion appliances if at all possible, especially if your are chemically sensitive
Keep doors and windows shut when outdoor pollution levels are at unhealthy levels from smog and/or forest fires
Banish your pets to the outside or garage if pet dander is troublesome

Although all of the above are excellent suggestions, it is very difficult and very expensive to control all of the sources of pollution in our homes. Building and furnishing “green” homes is definitely a wave of the future, but most people don’t have a non-toxic “green” home today and don’t have the money to redo their house in a totally “green” way. Also, there are some things like forest fires and smog that we don’t have much day-to-day control over.

So the second suggestion to help you reduce indoor air pollution is increasing ventilation. In other words, get more fresh air into your home! Open windows and doors, turn on kitchen and bathroom exhaust fans and mechanical ventilation systems, such as the fan on your central heat and air system, if it is vented to the outside.

This biggest problem with this second suggestion is that both the weather and the outdoor pollution do not always make it feasible to bring in outside air.

Cleaning the Air

The third suggestion for reducing the pollution in your home is to use an air purification device to clean the air. Even though air cleaners by themselves are not the best solution to keeping your indoor air clean (source control is the best!), they can definitely be a part of the solution.

According to the American Lung Association, air cleaning is recognized as one of the three strategies to improve indoor air quality. It has become increasingly popular as more and more people are developing asthma, allergies and sinus problems. For example, it is estimated that over 17 million people now have asthma, and the mortality rate due to asthma has almost doubled in the past decade (according to the ALA). Air cleaning has been widely used in industrial settings to control particulates, gases and vapors, and is now increasingly being turned to for use in residential settings. However, there is a big difference in air purifiers, and the inexpensive ones simply do not do a good job of cleaning the air.

In conclusion, most of us are breathing polluted air in our homes and offices for most of the day. You can reduce this indoor air pollution by reducing the sources of pollution, by opening windows and bringing in fresh air, and by using a high quality air purifiers.

Karen Pijuan
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/indoor-air-is-25-times-more-polluted-than-outdoor-air–is-yours-131090.html