Everything you need to know about Air Purifiers
Knowing that the pollution in the air is only getting worse, and certain viruses and diseases are airborne, you and/or your loved ones may be considering investing your hard earned dollars in an air purifier. For the majority of us, making purchases outside of what we deem to be “necessary” can be slightly stressful. With the ever growing and advancement of clever marketing techniques deployed by less than honest people “Do I really need this?” or “Will this end up being a waste of money?” are completely valid questions. So the question we will try to answer in this blog post will be…
Air purifiers, are they worth investing in?
In short I can tell you that with the research out there at this point in time, we can say with a great degree of confidence that it is certainly worth the investment.
The most common tests and research that have been done involving air purifiers, are in populations with asthma and/or allergies. There’s an overwhelming body of knowledge pointing towards notable and significant improvements of air quality and the health of test subjects that were in the nonplacebo groups. With up to 90% reduction in “harmful” particles such as allergens like pet fur, and dust. We love our doggies but the dirt, dust and fur that they leave in our homes can be a bit problematic for our health.
COVID-19 Protection
Now, let’s talk about the reason that you’re probably actually reading this article. Sars-CoV-2 more commonly referred to as covid-19 is most likely the true reason behind your recent peak in interest in the use and effectiveness of these products. To put it bluntly and honestly at this point in time, not enough research has been displayed for us to go ahead and say that it 100% will work. HOWEVER, according to the “National Library of Medicine” if you’ve got the opportunity to supply your household with one or more air purifiers – than DO IT! It would be a great supplemental precaution to social distancing, wearing a mask in public and practicing good hygiene (WASH YOUR HANDS PLEASE!). Take a read of our blog post – Proceed with Caution – all about ways to keep you healthy and entertained during this pandemic.
Our Favorite Air Purifier
I have gone through a variety of different air purifiers and just recently discovered SimPure and there SimPure HP8 Air Purifier which I really like for a few reasons: 1) it is made in the USA 2) it is a true HEPA air filter 3) it is ozone free and 4) it can filter a large space of 600 sq ft.
There are different types of filters out there, and no matter what a company with an inferior product may want to make you think, they aren’t all created equal. A filter works similar to a strainer in the kitchen, air gets sucked in one side and comes out the other side and, depending on the filter and the size of it’s pores, pathogens larger than the pores are “strained” and cleaner air is then passed through to the other side.
To this regard HEPA certified filters are the current leaders in filtration. Removing 99.97% of ALL particles from the air down to .3 microns in size! You may notice that we emphasized the word all in the previous sentence. This is because many companies try to make you believe that they can hold a candle to HEPA with clever marketing, saying they remove 99.9% of large or medium particles. Meaning that the much smaller particles will pass through with ease laughing their way into your lungs. But we must filter through 😉 the B.S. in order to make the correct decisions for ourselves and our loved ones.
Another claim that may hold some validity is that most viruses are themselves even smaller than .3 microns Covid-19 actually being .03 microns thick. Meaning that the filter at face value may not have the ability to remove them from the air. We and many others believe that this argument has potential to lose validity though, because viruses and bacteria don’t tend to float around alone. Viruses and bacteria tend to latch onto much larger particles such as mucus and saliva and these substances are in fact large enough to be caught among the filtration system in a HEPA certified filter! We believe that this is why many hospitals still use them to help aid in the fight against infectious disease and keeping their doctors safe while working to keep us all healthy.
Ready to Purchase?
If you are interested in purchasing an air purifier check out SimPure Life they have a variety of other products like water filters and even air purifiers for your car. Currently they are offering our readers 20% off with the code: LIVEFIT20
Authors: Tessa Mini, Armando Castro and Carla Castro
Sources:
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15737155/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4587002/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7180358/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27723364/
- https://www.webmd.com/allergies/hepa-filters-for-allergies#:~:text=A%20HEPA%20filter%20is%20a,dust%20mites%2C%20and%20tobacco%20smoke.&text=You%20can%20find%20HEPA%20filters,work%20for%20a%20single%20room.
- https://www.apcfilters.com/air-filters-work/#:~:text=So%20how%20do%20air%20filters%20work%20exactly%3F&text=They%20clean%20the%20air%20by,a%20tortuous%20passage%20to%20airflow.