Whether you’d like to get relief from allergies, remove harmful chemical fumes, or destroy germs, there is an air purifier on the market to help. But how do air purifiers work? What pollutants do they actually remove? Equally important, how do we know that they work? These are some questions that we’ll be examining below.
How Do Air Purifiers Work?
Air purifiers can work in a variety of ways depending on what type of problem they’re designed to solve. For instance:
- Some air purifiers use carbon filters to absorb odors, smoke, and chemical fumes.
- Ionizers use electrons (negatively-charged particles) to attract microscopic, positively-charged particles in your air (like dust and allergens) and make them fall to the ground or get trapped in a filter.
- HEPA filters use high-efficiency filtration to capture particles of 0.3 microns with 99.97% efficiency. This makes them effective at trapping airborne allergens.
- Systems with UV lights use germicidal UV-C light to break down the DNA and RNA of harmful microorganisms, like bacteria, viruses, and mold spores.
Some air purifiers combine these air-cleansing methods to offer a solution that “covers more bases.” Air purifiers also come in portable versions and whole-home versions that work with your existing HVAC system.
How Do We Know Air Purifiers Work?
The simple truth is that not all air purification systems “work” the way the manufacturer claims. That’s why it’s important to do some research about potential products for your home before buying and installing. Look for products that have been lab-tested—and not just by the manufacturer or in a lab owned by or similarly affiliated with the manufacturer.
Here’s a prime example of some reputable and not-so-reputable selling and advertising from air purifier manufacturers:
Lennox: Reputable
Lennox’s Carbon Clean 16 air purification system went through months of testing at LMS Technologies, Inc., a highly reputed, independent laboratory. Those tests determined that this whole-home air purifier removes over 99% of the virus that causes COVID-19 from the air.
In this instance, you can be fairly certain that this product, if installed correctly, will help reduce airborne germs and allergens in your home quite effectively, even if you don’t live in laboratory conditions.
Molekule: Not So Reputable
Molekule is facing class-action lawsuits challenging the company’s marketing claims about its air purification products’ performance and abilities. Things first began to snowball when Dyson, a rival company, challenged 26 of Molekule’s marketing claims, and the National Advertising Division (NAD) upheld all 26. During the investigation, NAD uncovered that Molekule’s product testing had been performed at a lab the company sponsors or at a lab where Molekule’s founder is a director.
Molekule faced additional scrutiny when a further investigation revealed that their studies were not conducted scientifically and were vulnerable to bias. Favorable testimonials of the product from doctors were also not supported by scientific evidence.
Are these reasons to not buy a Molekule product? Based on what has occurred, all we can say is proceed at your own risk.
Quality Air Purification Solutions
At Rescue Air and Plumbing, it’s our mission to offer our customers top-quality air purification solutions from reputable manufacturers—the types of products we would want in our own homes. If you’re struggling with poor indoor air quality in your home, please don’t hesitate to contact us to learn more about how we can help you: (972) 201-3253.