Top Quality Air Purifiers and Healthy Home Solutions that You Can Trust

If you're reading this blog, there's a good chance that you already know about how some common household substances might be bad for your health. Chemical cleaners, for instance, may exacerbate asthma or other respiratory conditions. One source of harmful gases you might not know about, though, are the many plastic objects scattered throughout your house. In this article, we'll look at how plastics could be affecting your breathing and your respiratory health overall.

How Can Plastics Affect Asthma?

When plastics are manufactured, they are treated with chemicals that help them take on their material characteristics. Unfortunately, over time, they can slowly release these chemicals back into the air around them in a process known as off-gassing. For most people, the chemical levels from plastics in the home never get high enough to become a serious problem, but for severe asthmatics and those with severe chemical sensitivities, gases from common plastics may present a problem.

The Role of Phthalates

Among the most concerning by-products of plastics is a class of chemicals known as phthalates. Phthalates are plasticizers that are used to make many modern plastics. The bad news, though, is that they have also been linked to the development of asthma. Exposure to phthalates has also been linked to the development of allergies in children. So, plastics may be both a cause of respiratory problems and one of the factors that can trigger them later in life.

Can You Protect Yourself?

If you want to limit your exposure to phthalates and other chemicals released by plastics, a high-quality carbon filtered air purifier may be one of your best options. Some of the units we recommend include:

•   Amaircare 3000 VOC
•   Airpura C600
•   Airpura G600DLX (great for severe chemical sensitivities)

  Have questions about using air purifiers to remove potentially harmful gases from plastics and other sources from your home? We're here to help. Feel free to contact us with your questions, and we'll be happy to provide you with answers and personalized product recommendations based on your unique needs.

If you've been following our blog for any period of time, you've probably noticed that we've created several articles on the best air purifiers for various rooms in the home. While our picks are always based on the unique air quality challenges you'll encounter in different parts of your house, they may have left you wondering about whether or not you should be using several air purifiers throughout your home. In this article, we'll take a look at the pros and cons of using multiple air purifiers in different spaces so that you can make the best decision for your personal needs.

The Case for Multiple Air Purifiers

Simply put, the case for using more than one unit in your home is the fact that you can target contaminants in different rooms more effectively. For example, an air purifier used in a kitchen or bathroom may need to be better at targeting odors in order to remove the smells from harsh cleaning products. One used in a garage, on the other hand, may require a heavier focus on VOCs. Similarly, different features can make different models better for various rooms. In your bedroom, for instance, it might make sense to select a filterless air purifier that will make no noise and allow you to get an optimal night of sleep.

What Are the Cons?

The only real downside to using several air purifiers throughout your home is the fact that it may be outside your budget. If this is the case, it's better to get a single air purifier with enough capacity to cover your entire living space and target a broad range of contaminants. For buyers in this situation, it's usually a good idea to get a combination HEPA and carbon filtered air purifier, since these units will be able to remove a wide variety of particles, gases and odors from your home air. Have questions about which air purifiers are the right choice in your home? We're here to help. Feel free to contact us with your questions, and we'll be happy to provide you with personalized product recommendations to help you get clean air throughout your house.

A new study of improved air quality standards in the UK between 1970 and 2010 has found that reduced air pollution during that period was associated with lower mortality rates from pollution-related causes. The study, conducted by the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, is among the first to examine mortality related to pollution over such a long period of time while also controlling for weather conditions that may contribute to higher pollution levels.   In the 40-year period of time examined by the study, the United Kingdom enacted a variety of emission control measures designed to improve air quality. As a result, levels of fine particulate matter, VOCs and nitrogen dioxide all fell by more than 50 percent, demonstrating that the air quality regulations put in place in Britain over the last half century were extremely effective in reducing overall air pollution.   Even more interesting, though, were the findings of the study related to mortality among the British population. Between 1970 and 2010, the study estimated that the risk of cardiovascular disease associated with high pollution levels decreased by 44 percent. For respiratory diseases, the number was even higher at 56 percent. This data provides considerable evidence that the reductions in air pollution seen by the UK since 1970 have likely been responsible for saving thousands of lives.   While the new study shows that the UK has already taken significant steps in the right direction with regards to air pollution, the authors say that the work is far from finished. Even with the regulations currently in place, levels of nitrogen dioxide in some British cities are considered excessively high. The more that can be done to combat air pollution, though, the more pronounced the effects on mortality from pollution-related causes will become.   Want to learn more about how clean air can help keep you healthy? Feel free to browse through our many other blog articles on the subject and check out our complete lineup of residential air purifiers. While more comprehensive solutions are needed to address the worldwide problem of air pollution, using a residential air purifier can at least give you peace of mind and cleaner air at home.

Himalayan salt lamps have become popular mainstays of home decor in recent years. Aside from just being an interesting bit of lighting, though, sellers of these salt lamps have attached all manner of supposed health benefits to them. Among these benefits, some users and manufacturers claim that salt lamps improve air quality and make home air healthier to breathe. Here are the hard facts you need to know about Himalayan salt lamps and air quality.  

  How Are Himalayan Salt Lamps Supposed to Improve Air Quality

  If you aren't very familiar with the alleged health benefits of Himalayan salt lamps, you may be wondering how anyone can claim that a lighting fixture can improve air quality. This claim rests on the supposed ability of salt lamps to release negative ions into the air around them. The salt, according to proponents, attracts water particles in the air, which then slowly evaporate from its surface, creating negative ions in the process. This same process is supposed to attract pollen, dust, dander and other debris from the air, thus keeping it from being breathed in.  

  What's the Truth About Himalayan Salt Lamps and Air Quality?

  For all of the claimed benefits, there's no evidence to back up the notion that a Himalayan salt lamp could improve the air quality in your home. In fact, the negative ionization process is one of the ways in which ozone, a harmful molecule made up of three oxygen atoms, is produced. By releasing negatively charged ions into the air, the process allows oxygen atoms to bind in a way different than their standard pairing, thus producing ozone. As a result, negative ionization releases a gas that can be extremely harmful to human health when inhaled.   However, that's not where the truth about salt lamps ends from an indoor air quality perspective. The worry about ozone is only legitimate is Himalayan salt lamps actually produce negative ions in the way they're claimed to. In a 2016 fact check, Snopes.com found that these salt lamps do not emit ions of any kind into the air, meaning that the mechanism by which they are supposed to improve air quality isn't even part of their real function.   The bottom line here is that Himalayan salt lamps are just that: lamps. While they may look interesting, they have never been demonstrated to produce any kind of health benefits. Now, if you want a lamp that really cleans the air, we have the perfect thing for you! The Vortex Air Purifier Lamp is an LED desk lamp with a built-in filterless air purifier rated for up to 175 square feet. With this lamp, you can keep your office, study space or bedroom healthier.    

Air pollution is one of the most complex and most pressing problems facing industrialized nations today. Before the health issues that are associated with pollution can be addressed, though, better systems must be put in place for measuring and tracking it. Fortunately, a team at Sweden's Chalmers University has developed a new generation of nanosensors that could provide effective, widespread pollution tracking. Here's what you need to know about the latest development in the worldwide fight against air pollution.  

  What Makes the New Nanosensors Special?

  These new sensors are notable for their combination of accuracy and size. According to the team at Chalmers University, the sensors are capable of taking extremely precise measurements of ambient pollution levels, allowing researchers to gain useful insights into the distribution of pollution and develop new strategies for combating it. Meanwhile, the sensors are quite small, with the entire apparatus fitting neatly onto a tiny chip.   By default, these sensors are designed to detect nitrogen dioxide, a key pollutant in car exhaust. However, the Swedish team has said that they can easily be adjusted to monitor other gases associated with air pollution, making them highly versatile.  

  How Can These Devices Be Deployed?

  Thanks to the size of the sensors, they have immense potential for widespread deployment in cities. To begin with, the research team hopes to place sensors on city streetlights. Initial tests have already been conducted in Sweden, but wider use will give researchers access to more and better data. Eventually, the development team also hopes to integrate sensors into other pieces of public architecture.   While you likely won't see one of these sensors on a streetlight in the United States anytime in the immediate future, the very fact that they have been developed represents a major step in combating air pollution. By carefully measuring and tracking pollution levels, cities, states and national governments can develop more effective plans for reducing pollution levels.