Is an air purifier able to filter Covid19?
jasonsjj 0 Comments Air Purifiers
It feels great being out in the open but now in reality we spend 90% of our time indoors. Currently, with various studies pointing to covid 19 being airborne, it is time we pay more attention to the air we are breathing at home. I bought myself a budget air purifier about five years ago during Balck Friday but after a month of using it, i haven’t been using it since. It has been sitting here in my storeroom for the past three years.
Since it is kind of a need now, i have decided to review whether air purifiers really works on Viruses. I want to find out if we really need air purifiers in our home and just how effective are these things. Sales for air purifiers surged when the world was hit by Covid 19 pandemic early this year. Demand has spiked ever since. Retailers say sales went up by five times compared with the same period last year.
I have conducted a survey among my friends and colleagues. Wondering on how common that people purchased air purifiers now days. It is a small sample size, so, i do not have a good result to represent the whole market. However, quite a number of them told me they do have air purifiers at home and there are a few common reason why they have it at home.
Common answer 1) Health concerns – Asthma, Allergy to dust.
One of them who rent a home studio says that it’s very important to keep the air clean at home because she is worry about the dust and allergies. She finds it effective and realized there is a different when you breathe the air. She feel that the air is thinner and the odour is gone.
Common answer 2) Solution for preventing Covid 19.
Air filter can trap bacteria and viruses. There is growing evidence that suggests covid 19 is airborne. This means that if i am in a poorly ventilated enclosed space with an infected person, i might contract the virus too. Of course we’re looking at an extended exposure of about 30 minutes. However, it is still better to be safe than sorry.
I want to know if air purifiers can get rid of the coronavirus in the air. So i took further step to have all the answers about covidt 19.
I found an interview from CNA channel with Dr Glorijoy Tan from Singapore’s National Center for infection deceases. He is specializes in controlling and for preventing infection decease. He was involved in developing the test to check symptoms for covid 19 infections.
CAN AIR PURIFIER FILTER CORONAVIRUS?
Based on our current understanding, the main modality of transmission of covid19 remains primarily through respiratory droplets, as well as contact transmission. However, there may be certain circumstances in which airborne transmission of covid-19 could occur. This may be in a setting where there are a lot of people within a very enclosed space, doing very specific activities. For example, speaking in very loud voices or singing.
Types of Hepa Filter.
Most of the air filters that we are talking about these days, pride themselves on having an Hepa filter and the Hepa filter holds itself to a very high standard.
- True Hepa Filter is specified to filter out up to 99.97% particles.
- The highest grade of Hepa Filter is the one that most Hospital are using which is grade H3 Hepa filter that filters up to 99.99% of particles. This includes infective pathogens and viruses.
- Hepa filters and activated carbon Hepa filters are a greater filter that can remove microscopic particles in the air. Together with the activated carbon, these air purifiers claim to remove harmful substances from the air by up to 99.9 percent.
This proves that Hepa filter is effective. However having said that i think we should be mindful not to think of the air purifier as like a magic bullet. The overall strategy to reduce one’s risk really would be to include things like frequent hand washing wiping of surfaces.
An air purifier with a Hepa filter may protect us from covert 19. But i have learned that covid 19 isn’t the only thing that’s lurking in our air. Many studies have reported that the air inside our homes is far dirtier than the air outside! Professor Tom Cox shared that we broadly can classify as 3 different categories.
Category 1) The physical contaminants so these are principally dust.
VACUUM CLEANERS ARE ONE OF THE MAIN FACTOR of having FINE dust in your house! We must understand that when it sucks in the dust, it only filter the dust that we can see, and does not remove everything. This means sucking of air must come out and unfortunately the finer particles does basically follow the airstream out. The finer ones are actually airborne and are more damaging. They are very small and they remain airborne. The fine particles actually go much deeper into the lungs.
One scary thing is when cockroach egg actually being sucked, it actually churns that grinding. So the bigger particles become smaller particles. You do not want this to happen. Recommends using a vacuum cleaner with a water filter. The water will prevent finer pollutants from being released back into the air.
Category 2) It is gaseous. it flows all around the place and we basically breath it in.
This usually contributes by cooking. The combustion will produce by-products and we are inhaling them. Unfortunately, not all of which, are actually good for the body. Besides cooking, perfume, and burnings of candles or fragrance joy sticks also falls under the gaseous category. Harmful gases such as carbon monoxide also are quite common issue in the house. Long period of inhaling carbon monoxide could cause serious problem on ones immune system.
Category 3) Living organisms or also known as the biological category. Biologicals are things which are very minor in nature. The bacteria in particular. For example, when you smell something musky, is actually an indication that it is caused from bacteria mould infested. Some of this mould, they produce chemicals which are toxic to the body.
Now you know the air in our homes are potentially dangerous. Contaminants such as small debris, dust, and harmful gases such as carbon monoxide and spores from moulds. They can enter our lungs leading to respiratory problems and chronic conditions such as heart disease.
These days air purifiers don’t just come with Hepa filters. They also come with ionizers, UV light, and Ozone generators that claim to be able to kill microorganisms and remove harmful chemicals. All of which can cost a hundred to almost a thousand dollars.
One rule of thumb besides the functions, it is the size of the air purifier. When you need to filter a bigger coverage area, the higher the cost. So, once you know which type of air filter suites your needs, then you could proceed to select the size. Most air purifies comes with various sizes for difference room size needs.
One good way to identify which filter you need is to engage an air quality inspector. They are able to runs tests to find out how much contaminants is in the air, in an enclosed space. Usually, they will run some basic test on your room, for example temperature, humidity and air velocity. Next is (TVOCS) stands for ‘total volatile organic compounds’ which they will test for carbon monoxide and harmful gases in the room. Followed by testing the dust level. This is commonly known as the famous indicator of pm2.5 and your pm10. Another device would be a test for telling us on how much mole and bacteria in the room. This is being done by placing an agar plate inside the device and then it will suck the air and whatever is being transmitted onto the agar plate for an hour. After that, it will be send to a lab to analyze.
So, to answer the big question of do i need an air purifier at home to fight against Covid-19? Well i have discovered that air purifiers not only can help to remove pollutes particles in the air but also able to filter out Covid-19. Perhaps, it’s time that i start using mine again. However, i have also learned that it’s incredibly important to keep your home well ventilated so that every breath you take can be a fresher.
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