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

The World Health Organization this week revised its guidelines for acceptable levels of fine particulate matter (PM 2.5), the first time the guideline for PM 2.5 had been updated in over a decade. Under the new guidelines, the allowable limit would be reduced by 50 percent from current levels.   The new guidelines recommend a limit of 5 micrograms per cubic meter of air, down from the previous recommended limit of 10. While not binding under international law, this new guideline can help policymakers in nations around the world craft policies to bring PM 2.5 levels under control.   Curbing emissions of fine particulate matter is one of the most important aspects of improving global air quality. When inhaled, these tiny particles can enter the bloodstream and cause a host of health issues. Heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and various cancers have all been linked to long-term PM 2.5 exposure. Some researchers also believe that inhaling these harmful particles could accelerate cognitive decline in older adults and impair learning in children.   Thanks in large part to the wide-ranging health effects of PM 2.5, current estimates suggest that air pollution leads to about 7 million premature deaths each year. Over half of those deaths have been connected to fine particulate matter. Current research suggest that the average life expectancy is 2.2 years lower than it would otherwise be due to air pollution. For those living in more heavily polluted areas, this effect is even more substantial.   According to the estimates provided by the WHO, over 3 million premature deaths could be avoided each year under the new guidelines. As they are implemented by nations around the world, the rates of heart disease, strokes and other problems associated with PM 2.5 should gradually begin to slump off. It's important to recognize, though, that these effects may not be immediate. Various nations will enact air quality policies at different rates, and developing nations that are heavily dependent on coal for energy production will likely continue to see high levels of PM 2.5.   In addition to the new PM 2.5 guidance, the WHO also lowered the allowable limits for other known air pollutants. These included nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide and ozone. All of these substances are known to have adverse effects on human health, and some are contributing factors in climate change.   The WHO guideline updates represent an important step in curbing the output of harmful pollutants. When the previous guidelines were issued 15 years ago, researchers knew much less about air pollution and its effects on human health. Specifically, much less was known at the time about what level of pollution was enough to trigger severe health issues. The new guidelines integrate the body of research that has been done since the original ones were issued and better represent the realities of air pollution as it relates to health.   While there may not be much you can do about national or international air pollution problems, you can take steps to control the air quality in your own home. Browse our complete selection of home air purifiers to find the model that will best help you keep the air in your house  clean and healthy. Have questions? We're here to help! Feel free to contact us, and we'll be happy to provide you with answers and personalized product recommendations based on your needs.

Recently, we wrote a blog post about a scam company that individuals, banks and even Google had gotten confused with US Air Purifiers LLC due to an unfortunate name similarity. That experience got us to thinking about scams in the air purifier industry. While most of the people working in this industry are honestly trying to provide their customers with cleaner, healthier air, there are always some bad apples in any bunch. Today, we'd like to discuss air purifier scams and what you can do to avoid them.  

What Do Air Purifier Scams Look Like?

  Air purifier scams can take several different forms. The most common is marketing claims made about machines that don't live up to the standards suggested. For example, a seller might claim that a unit without a carbon filter removes particles and gases from the air, despite the fact that a HEPA filter has little to no impact on gaseous contaminants.   In other cases, you might see air cleaning systems that either don't work or, in the worst cases, actively reduce indoor air quality. Ozone generators are a prime example of this type of air purifier scam. Despite claims made for its ability to improve air quality, ozone is actually quite harmful to human health when inhaled.   Finally, you may find scams involving replacement filters for air purifiers. Third-party sellers with off-brand filters may charge lower prices, but in many cases the filters don't perform to the standards they should. Shoddy filters should be avoided at all costs, since they will significantly reduce the effectiveness of even the best air purifiers.  

How Can You Avoid Air Purifier Scams?

  As with most scams, the key to avoiding air purifier scams is to do your research before making a purchasing decision. The best place to start is to carefully review the specifications of the air purifier you're looking at. In most cases, checking the specifications will help you avoid scams and misstatements on the marketing side of things. In particular, you should look at the type of filters being used and the air flow rate in cubic feet per minute (CFM).   You should also buy your air purifier from a trusted dealer. When buying from unnamed third parties online, you're more likely to get faulty or ineffective products. Buying a brand-name air purifier through a qualified dealer is by far your best protection against being ripped off. Here at US Air Purifiers, we carry many of the best brands in the industry, including Austin Air, Amaircare, Airpura, Field Controls and others. You should also buy your replacement filters from an authorized dealer to ensure you get the right filters for your machine.   Finally, remember the best and oldest piece of advice about scams: If it looks too good to be true, it probably is. If you see an air purifier listed at a price drastically below models with similar features and specs, there's probably a good reason. This doesn't mean you have to spend thousands of dollars on an air purifier, but don't expect to pay half price and get the same level of quality, either.   Have questions about which air purifier is right for you? 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 needs. You can also browse our complete selection of home air purifiers to see which models best fit your needs and budget.    

Summary for the reader short on time: US Air Purifiers LLC is not Purifier CC. These companies are totally unrelated.   Recently, we've been made aware of a problem relating to Google search results in which USAirPurifiers.com has been confounded with an unrelated and apparently fraudulent company by the name of Purifier.cc. When the phone number associated with Purifier.cc, 888-964-5277, is searched in Google, our website is mistakenly listed as the first search result. While we are unsure why Google returns our site in relation to this search, we would like to clarify as a matter of record that we are not in any way, shape or form associated with Purifier.cc or any of its affiliates. As far as we can tell from our own research, this company is entirely fraudulent and exists purely to extract money from its victims without their permission and without providing any real product or service in return.   This matter comes up due to a series of complaints directed to us by victims of the Purifier.cc scam and their banks in recent weeks. Because of the error in Google search results, multiple individuals who have been defrauded by this company and their financial institutions have reached out to us under the mistaken impression that we are the same entity. While we completely understand why these inquiries have been directed to us in light of the Google search error, it's important to us to clear the air (pun very much intended!) and clarify that we are totally unrelated to Purifier.cc.   Purifier.cc, an entity which purports to help businesses manage customer support and has at various times claimed to offer computer cleaning services, has multiple complaints of fraud against it listed online. A series of reviews left for this company on Trustpilot reveal that they have fraudulently withdrawn funds from victims' bank accounts without prior permission. Similar complaints registered through WhatsThatCharge suggest customers are being billed anywhere from $1-49 at a time, despite not authorizing the charges.   While the company purports to be based in Florida, charges from it have been tracked back to Burundi, according to the fraud monitoring website FraudCreditCards. The company even appears to engage is the use of malware to direct "customers" to its site for computer cleaning. While we could go on with further examples of this company's unscrupulous practices, we think the point has been made.   To reiterate, we are unsure as to why a search for the phone number associated with Purifier.cc returns a result for our website. That number, 888-964-5277, appears on the company's credit card charges and does not appear to work. We were, however, able to find another number, 844-759-0463, where those who have been wrongly charged may be able to contact the company.   US Air Purifiers LLC is a family-owned small business that sells residential and commercial air purifiers, filters, and other home air quality products. We have nothing to do with computer cleaning or customer service management software. We never charge for anything without the permission of our customers and hold ourselves to the highest standards of ethical business practices. We do not now nor have we ever engaged in the kind of underhanded "business" practices apparently associated with Purifier.cc. Aside from a slight similarity in our names, we share nothing, whatsoever, in common with Purifier.cc.   In closing, we would like to extend our sympathies to those who have made the honest mistake of confusing us with Purifier.cc after being scammed by them. While we apologize for the confusion resulting from the Google search result error and have reached out to Google and their legal team to have the problem corrected, there is little more we can do at this time to resolve the issue. If you have been a victim of this scam, we encourage you to reach out to your credit card company and dispute the fraudulent charges as soon as possible.    

For many years, researchers have found telltale signs of a link between air quality and cognitive function. Students from more heavily polluted neighborhoods, for example, tend to have lower grades than those living where air quality is better. The problem, though, has been quantifying this link. In a recent study seeking to solve this problem, researchers used data from the popular brain-training game Lumosity to reveal how air pollution affects cognitive health.   The study in question used data from more than 116,000 US-based Lumosity users. Based on IP addresses, users were grouped according to their zip codes. With this geographical information, the researchers could cross-reference the users' locations with day-to-day air quality data to see what effect, if any, higher levels of air pollution had on performance in the game. Thanks to the game's own ability to test different types of cognitive performance with a variety of tasks, the researchers were also able to examine the results across 7 types of cognition. The research focused on exposure to particulate matter, a common component of air pollution with a variety of known adverse health effects.   The results were, to say the least, significant. Memory was the most affected of the seven areas tested. According to researchers, higher levels of particulate matter could cause users' performance to drop by the equivalent of 20 years of ordinary age-related decline. It was also discovered that people who were learning new skills were likely to be more affected than those practicing existing ones.   This study adds to a growing body of research suggesting that air pollution could be negatively impacting brain function. As a result, it could also reduce workplace productivity and overall performance in a wide variety of settings. Long-term effects of lower cognitive performance related to high levels of air pollution could also open up significant gaps between those living in densely populated urban areas and workers in cleaner suburban areas.   Air pollution is an ongoing problem that will take time, resources and large-scale solutions to improve. For right now, the best thing you can do is to limit your exposure to harmful pollutants. One of the best ways to do this is by using a home air purifier to remove contaminants from the air in your house. An air purifier with a combination of HEPA and carbon filters is best, since it will allow you to target both particles and gases that make up air pollution.   Some of our top all-purpose home air purifiers include:  

• Airpura R600
• Field Controls TRIO
• Amaircare 3000 VOC
• Austin Air HealthMate Plus

  You can also use an indoor air quality meter to help you understand the quality of the air in your home. These devices detect common contaminants, allowing you to measure how much air pollution you're actually being exposed to in the home.   There are also several small ways to at least somewhat reduce your exposure to pollution outside the home. Keeping the windows in your car rolled up while driving, for instance, may help you inhale fewer particles from vehicle exhaust while driving. Using a small air purifier at your desk at work, likewise, may offer you a measure of protection in the office. Even wearing a cloth face mask while walking outdoors could reduce your exposure to ambient air pollution, especially if you're living in a dense urban center.   Have questions about how air purifiers can help you reduce your exposure to air pollution? We're here to help! Feel free to contact us with your questions, and we'll be happy to provide you with answers and product recommendations based on your unique needs.    

For the last several years, many of us have experienced worse seasonal allergies during the spring and autumn. Now, scientific evidence is beginning to show that there are very real trends behind these unusually intense allergy seasons. Researchers associated with the University of Utah have compiled data on pollen levels in North America over the last 30 years. The results indicate that climate change is likely the driving force behind increasingly severe seasonal allergies.   The researchers found that climate change has gradually shifted the time frame for allergy season throughout North America. On average, plants now begin pollinating about 20 days earlier than they did at the beginning of the period under investigation. In addition to starting earlier, allergy seasons now also last roughly one week longer.   Worse still for allergy sufferers, higher levels of carbon dioxide and warmer temperatures have also led to higher pollen production. The researchers found that plants produce about 20 percent more pollen today than 30 years ago. The higher concentrations of pollen are likely a result of improved plant growth, according to the researchers. Flowering plants tend to grow better in warm conditions with abundant carbon dioxide available to them. These conditions, consistent with the current understanding of climate change, lead to larger flowers and, as a result, more pollen from each plant.   Longer allergy seasons are just one of the many negative health effects humans could see over the coming years as a result of shifting climates. Ash from forest fires, higher carbon dioxide levels and particulate matter from the pollution that contributes to global warming also exert downward pressure on overall air quality. Combined, these problems make it more important than ever to take steps to improve the quality of the air we all breathe.   While larger solutions will take time and require major changes, there are some steps you can take right now to reduce your exposure to low-quality air. One of the best options for most people is to invest in a home air purifier. Air purifiers for allergies, for instance, feature HEPA filters that can effectively capture airborne pollen. By using one of these air purifiers in your home, you can help to reduce your pollen exposure during allergy season and potentially reduce the severity of your symptoms.   If you live in a large, urban area, you should also consider an air purifier that offers carbon filtration. Carbon filters capture gases, odors and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that a standard HEPA filter can't. As a result, these filters offer an additional layer of protection against some of the more difficult to target components of air pollution.   Beyond air purification, you can also consider re-circulating the air in your home during allergy season. A whole-house fan can move your home air around to prevent it from becoming too stuffy without bringing potentially contaminated air in from the outside. Circulating air during the day and opening the windows to bring fresh air in at night can also help you balance off the need for fresh air with the goal of avoiding peak pollen times.   Have questions about using air purifiers this allergy season? We're here to help! Feel free to contact us with your questions, and we'll be happy to provide you with answers and product recommendations based on your unique needs.