The Benefits of an Air Purifier for Allergies

Air pollution surrounds us daily, whether we are in the outdoor air facing exposure to car emissions, secondhand smoke, particulate matter produced from pollen or even when we are securely locked away in our personal indoor environment where the air can be tainted by a multitude of sources like stoves, cleaning products, candles, pets, or even dust collection within the environment. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has conducted extensive research in recent years to show the strong correlation that air quality has on a variety of health issues, particularly the effects of indoor air quality on human health. With the accumulation of more information on indoor air quality effects, the more knowledgeable consumers are when faced with health issues that are triggered at the hand of poor indoor air quality such as allergies.

Allergies are a major illness that many Americans suffer from every year, with up to 50 million people in the United States that deal with allergies. Allergy triggers are all around us and the slightest exposure to these allergens can stir up a bout of different symptoms or reactions in those with allergies. Indoor environments like a home can be one of the most attractive places for allergens to reside in and spark severe allergy-symptoms when present in this indoor environment. If you begin to experience severe allergy-symptoms when inside your home, allergens are likely in high volumes throughout your home and this will require a helpful air purifier to help combat the allergens that are invading this indoor space.

In this article we are going to discuss the benefits of having an air purifier for allergies, along with the different types of allergens that may be present in your home and learn what is the best air purifier for allergies and asthma that will help to reduce allergy triggers in your personal indoor environment.

What is an Air Purifier

Did you know that indoor air is often five times higher in pollutants than that of outdoor air? Indoor air quality is often an area of health that we do not pay much attention too or think about the potentially compromising pollutants that can be found in this air that we are continually breathing in every day. The heightened risks of different health issues from exposure and inhalation of pollutants is something that should not be taken lightly, especially for those people who have allergies. Often times, the solution of how you can clean your air is completely lost on people who are just unaware of the different devices that are available to aid in the cleaning and removal of pollutants from your indoor air.

Air purifiers are devices that were specifically designed to help clean and filter the indoor air of potential pollutants that are compromising the quality of the air in this indoor environment. There are a variety of different air purifiers that are available on the market today that will work to help clean your home’s air from the potential triggers that are floating around – including chemical VOCs, microorganisms, noxious odors, or even particulate matter like allergens. Depending on the technology that is utilized in each air purifier, the pollutants that an air purifier will work against will vary, thus it is important to understand the different technologies before purchasing one to help with indoor allergies.

How Does an Air Purifier Work Against Allergens

The mechanisms that an air purifier works by is through an air blower to pull in air to increase air circulation and a filter that the air can pass through to trap and capture pollutants. As the air purifier pulls in the air from the indoor environment into the purifier it will move the air through the filter to help pull out pollutants and particles that are compromising your indoor air. The functions of an air purifier will vary greatly per air purifier, as each air purifier uses different mechanisms and different types of air filters that will work against specific air pollutants.

Some air purifiers work through ionization, through ozone, through carbon technology, or even through photo electrochemical oxidation – and all of these different processes will filter out different pollutants from your air, however, some of these technologies can also harm your indoor air as well.

When it comes to the effectiveness of an air purifier against allergens that are in the air, it will be important to look for an air purifier that contains a filter media that will be able to capture ultra-fine particulate matter like allergens from the air. A HEPA filter (High-Efficiency Particulate Air) is among one of the best options when it comes to a filter that can remove allergens from the air.

Common Allergens in the Air of Your Home

Allergens are substances that are found in the environment, whether on the surfaces or in the air, that will act as a foreign substance to the body and trigger an allergic reaction in those who suffer from allergies. Unfortunately, allergens can be found almost everywhere with no area safe for an allergy sufferer. Inside of your home, where most people will assume that they are safe from allergens, is actually an environment that can become infested with an accumulation of allergens that can wreak havoc on your allergy symptoms.

There are a wide variety of different allergens that can be found in excess within your home. The most common allergens in the air of your home will include the following:

Dust Mites

Tiny, microscopic insects can be found within your home in large numbers that can spark and ignite your allergies when indoors. These insects are called dust mites and they are one of the most common allergens that individuals are allergic to in a home, according to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology. Dust mites feed on human skin flakes and dust found in the environment and thrive in conditions where humidity is above 40 percent and the temperatures are about 70 degrees Fahrenheit. These allergens tend to gravitate towards soft surfaces like beddings and upholstered furniture where dust and skin accumulation will gather, allowing them to easily feast on these substances.

Pet Dander

When it comes to pets and allergies, they could be a leading cause to your allergy spike within the home. Pets and their dander are classified as an allergen that can produce a reaction in those with allergies. For some people who are faced with allergies, depending on the dog breed their allergies will only spike based on the breeds dander – therefore the classified “hypoallergenic dog breeds” came to be when adopting dogs. Pet dander can be produced through fur that the pet sheds, from their urine, and even from their saliva, and upon exposure to this dander it can trigger allergy symptoms immediately in some cases.

Mold & Mold Spores

Mold allergies is a particularly troubling type of allergy that when exposure occurs to mold within your personal indoor environment it can begin to lead to far worse debilitating health issues after long-term exposure. Indoor mold growth in a home tends to appear in areas where there is moisture and little light which will allow the mold to thrive. When mold begins to grow inside of a home it will start releasing spores into the air called mold spores that will reproduce when they latch onto a surface. These mold spores, however, are very hazardous particles that can trigger a mold spore allergy and when inhaled into the body will activate a bout of respiratory and lung issues.

Pollen

The outdoor allergen pollen can have just as great of an effect on indoor air that it has on outdoor air. Pollen will travel in the air and can be brought in through outdoor air that enters into the home or even from pollen that attaches to clothing or items that you bring back into your personal indoor environment. A pollen allergy is also commonly referred to as “hay fever” that is considered a seasonal allergy that occurs only when pollen generation is heightened outdoors. As the pollen begins to enter indoors it will commence allergy symptoms when present within the environment.

Do Air Purifiers Help with Allergies

If you are an allergy sufferer, you have likely tried every and all methods to help alleviate your flaring allergies. From over-the-counter allergy medicine, thorough house cleaning, or even the use of an efficient air purifier to help combat and remove allergens from your home’s air to lessen allergy symptoms. Air purifiers have become a very popular option for allergy-sufferers to help them combat their brewing allergies indoors and aid in the elimination of allergens in the indoor air.

Homes, particularly newly built homes, are tightly constructed to provide maximum efficiency that lowers utility costs. However, this can lead to an influx of compromised air in the indoor space, with no intake of fresh air to flush out these pollutants and contaminants in the air. Allergens will especially become contained in this confined space and will create a buildup within your home that will intensify allergy symptoms.

Air purifiers will help to take in the air in your home that contains a mix of allergens and push it through their filter to capture and remove them from the air. This will help to improve overall allergy-symptoms indoors and you will be able to see a noticeable difference in your allergic reactions. Just be sure that you select the right air purifier that will actually be able to filter small allergens from the air and do so without re-releasing them overtime back into the air.

How to Tell if Air Purifier is Working

The thing about air purifiers is that it is hard to track whether or not the purifier is having any effect, both positive or negative, on your indoor air quality from running it in your home. When it comes to combating allergens in the indoor environment, allergy-sufferers will be able to detect the decrease in symptoms or reactions when present in the home. This will be a huge indicator that the air purifier is actually filtering these allergens and removing them from your indoor air.

If, however, you are not sure that the air purifier is actually working to combat allergens inside of your home while running you can utilize an at-home air quality meter to measure pollutant levels in your personal indoor environment.

Best Air Purifier for Allergies and Asthma

When it comes down to selecting the ideal air purifier for your allergies there are many functions and specific capabilities you should look for when purchasing a purifier. It is important to find an air purifier that has the efficiency to filter out and capture particulate matter that is small, at least filter 0.3 microns or larger from the air. As we discussed earlier, a HEPA air filter is one of the best features an air purifier can have for particulate filtration within the system. This type of filter is designed to capture particulate matter that is larger than 0.3 microns in size which will provide the capability of removing allergen particles from the air efficiently.

The EnviroKlenz Air Purifier is designed to filter out and eliminate a broad spectrum of chemicals, noxious odors, and particulate matter including allergens from the air. The EnviroKlenz Air Purifier has a two-stage filtration process, the first is the patented EnviroKlenz earth mineral technology air filter that will neutralize and/or breakdown a broad array of chemicals and noxious odors from the air. The second stage is a hospital-grade HEPA filter that is able to filter particulate matter larger than 0.3 microns in size with a 99.97 percent efficiency. This means that no allergen will withstand the filtering capability of the EnviroKlenz Air Purifier.