Air Purifier Filters Overview

Most likely, you would not run into a room that was filled with poisonous gases without some type of protective gear to keep you from harm. Average Americans spend about 90% of their time indoors. No matter the location, whether at home, work, or school, that time inside is often spent breathing harmful, airborne particles. According to the EPA, indoor air pollution is one of the top five environmental risks to public health. Most of these threatening particles in the air are undetectable by the human eye, but can be removed with an air purifier filter. Basically, air purifying filters suck in the air inside a room, clean it and then return the clean air back into the room, making it safer for you to ingest. There are many technologies that compose air purifier filters, but three main types of air purifiers or air cleaners:

 

·        Adsorption: This type of air purifier filter uses a porous, activated media like carbon. When the chemical contaminants in the air come in contact with these medias, the chemicals in the air combine with the media and are removed from the air in the room. This type of air purifying filter will remove harmful chemicals and many types of odors, but it does not have a great impact on particles like dust.

·        Mechanical filtering: This type of air purifier filter uses a very fine screen to collect particles from the air inside a room. HEPA filters are mechanical and can remove particles from the air that are as small as 0.03 microns. HEPA technology has made mechanical filtering especially helpful. Mechanical filtering is especially useful for removing allergen particles like mold or pollen from the air. 

·        Electrostatic or electronic air purifier filters: This type of air purifier filter uses plates that are charged to give air particles an electric charge. Plates are then given the opposite electric charge so that the air particles are attracted, and thus removed from the air. 

·        Combination: Many air purifier filters use various combinations of the types listed above. Ultra violet rays may also be used in these combinations to help kill microorganisms like mold or bacteria.