Why Is Air Purification Needed?

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ranks indoor air pollution among the top five environmental risks to public health! According to the E.P.A., levels of indoor air pollutants may be from 2-5 to 100 times higher than those found outdoors!

The construction of more tightly sealed buildings, reduced air exchange rates in ventilation systems to save energy, use of synthetic building materials and furnishings and the use of chemically formulated household and commercial cleaners, personal care products and pesticides has dramatically increased our exposure to indoor air pollutants.

Given that recent studies indicate that we spend 90% of our time indoors, the health risks from exposure to indoor air pollution may be far greater than exposure to outdoor air pollution in even our most polluted industrialized cities!

The health effects from exposure to indoor air pollution can be severely debilitating and even fatal. These health effects may be immediate as well as long term and range from irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat, headaches, dizziness, and fatigue to hypersensitivity pneumonitis, humidifier fever, respiratory diseases, heart disease and even cancer! And it is clear that indoor air quality has a significant effect on allergic reactions and asthma.

While everyone is at risk from poor indoor air quality the most susceptible are the young, the elderly and those with chronic illnesses, allergies and asthma, especially respiratory and cardiovascular disease.

Even if you have no symptoms of indoor air pollution related illnesses, the EPA says that it is prudent for you to try to improve the quality of indoor air. The EPA recommends source removal, increased ventilation and air cleaning as the three most important methods of improving indoor air.

Some sources of indoor air pollution are easy to identify and deal with such as prohibiting smoking indoors. Many other sources many not even be able to be identified, much less removed from the environment.

And while ventilation makes sense, outdoor air is often so polluted as to be of little help. In fact, according to a 1995 study by the Harvard School of Public Health, in cities where smoke stacks and traffic are heavy contributors to poor air quality, urban dwellers are 15 to 17 times more likely to die prematurely than people in cities with the cleanest air. And as allergy sufferers will tell you, during spring and fall, increased ventilation just lets in pollen and other allergens.

While air purifiers cannot solve all indoor air quality problems, they are an important part of an EPA recommended strategy designed to improve indoor air quality.