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Air Purifiers

The Backstory

Polluted Indoor Air

Your indoor air may be as much as five times more polluted than the air outside. Why? Building materials, like paints, varnishes and sealants, household cleaners, air fresheners and other furnishings emit high levels of hazardous volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as benzene and formaldehyde. These VOCs can cause respiratory irritation, headaches, nausea, flu-like symptoms or asthma attacks, or increase the risk of cancer. Gaseous pollutants from unvented gas cooking and heating appliances and vehicle exhaust include carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide.

And then there are the respirable particles (those that are small enough to become airborne and be inhaled) from everyday activities, including dust, pollens, pet dander, soot and some molds, as well as particles from environmental tobacco smoke and combustion appliances. Of these, secondhand smoke is among the most problematic. Not only is the odor irritating, particularly to asthmatics and allergy sufferers, but secondhand smoke can increase the risk of lung cancer in non-smokers by as much as 20 percent, according to the National Cancer Institute.

Environmental

Although buying an air purifier can cleanse indoor air of particles, using air purifiers results in solid waste from disposal of filters, and consumes energy, increasing the amount of globe-warming carbon dioxide released by power plants.