When it comes time to begin your perusing of different air filtration technologies and solutions to place inside your most sacred environment, your home. Before you go purchasing an air filter or air purification device it is best to do your due diligence to ensure that you understand how the air filtration works, the risks that it may create within your environment, and if an alternative filtration method is better suited for your occupied indoor space.

Activated charcoal, also known as activated carbon, is an air filtration technology that is among one of the most popular used today, with it being used as HVAC filters in air handling systems and also in air purifiers as the major stage of filtration within these air cleaning devices. However, this activated charcoal technology has been found to have several disadvantages when it comes to cleaning your indoor air – some of which can present potential issues for both the indoor air quality of this indoor environment, along with adverse reactions to the health of those commonly exposed to this space.

In this article we are going to learn more about why you should look for an activated charcoal air filter, along with the things you must know about this air filtration technology before you purchase it for your personal indoor environment.

Do Charcoal Air Purifiers Work?

So, what is an activated carbon air filter? Activated carbon air purifier filters originate from charcoal, which is produced when organic materials are burned to create this filtration material that is embedded into air filters, along with other filtration methods like water. The carbon or charcoal is than activated, meaning it is specially treated with oxygen in order to open up the pores of the carbon atoms on the carbon media surface. Additionally, the charcoal material can also be activated chemically through the use of chemical additives like potassium permanganate that will dope the filter making it increase its surface area and allows it to capture more pollutants on the filter media than normal carbon would be able to when used in air filtration solutions.

Generally though, activated carbon or charcoal simply means that the surface area of the carbon is increased to make the material more porous to allow it to exceed the average absorbing capabilities of the carbon material, to collect pollutants on the filter media. Once the pollutants flow through the activated charcoal filter media they will become attached to the surface and trapped on the filter material. The pollutants that are easily trapped into the charcoal’s activation site includes gaseous compounds like VOCs and odorous compounds that are present in the air space.

Do Carbon Filters Remove Odor?

When it comes to carbon air filters capability to remove pollutants from the air space, gaseous compounds like VOCs are well-known to be removed through this technology. However, how effective is carbon filters at removing odorous compounds from the air (such as cooking odors, chemical odors, pet smells, etc.)? First, it is important to understand how the carbon technology works in air filters – and this main function of the carbon technology is known as “adsorption”. The major capability of carbon air filters to “adsorb” allows for contaminants that are found in the indoor air of the environment to flow through the filter media of the activated carbon and be sucked onto the carbon material, sticking to the small pieces of carbon to remove them from the air as it is pushed back into the space.

Odorous compounds, similar to the gaseous compounds, will become absorbed onto the carbon filter media as it passes through the filter. This gives the activated carbon the ability to remove the odors from the air of the environment and trapping them onto the carbon media surface.

Are Carbon Air Filters Safe?

Carbon air filters, like most other air filtration technologies, have downfalls that will make the technology either risky to use or provide an inefficiency while using it inside of an indoor environment. The activated carbon technology works by absorbing the pollutants onto the filter, and overtime as the filer accumulates the contaminants on the filter media it will fill up completely. When the filter reaches maximum capacity, it will start the process of re-releasing the collected contaminants back into the air space of the environment it once cleaned, thus tainting the air it cleaned previously. This unexpected re-releasing of airborne pollutants from a carbon air filter can be compromising to human health and impact the safety of the environment as the pollutants progressively begin to release off the filter and into the air.

These carbon air filters will fill up fairly quickly, leaving the life of the filter an ambiguous factor for those who own and use carbon filtration in their home’s air. The life of a carbon air filter will depend on various factors including the conditions inside of the environment, the amount of carbon used in the air filter, and the number of air filtration devices that are used in this indoor space. Therefore, it is hard to determine how long activated carbon air filters will last and how frequently you will need to change out the filter in your home.

Safe Air Purifiers

Selecting an effective and safe air purifier for your home is a top concern for consumers who want to add solutions to their home that will be safe to their environment and most importantly to their family. There are a number of different air purification technologies available to consumers today, including ozone, ionizers, carbon, and even other new emerging air filtration technologies that have given these traditionally used filtration methods a run for their money. Among the list of these new air filtration technologies, EnviroKlenz® is a revolutionary addition to the air filtration market.

EnviroKlenz® is a one-of-a-kind air filtration solution that utilizes a proprietary earth mineral technology that is both safe and effective at capturing, containing, and neutralizing a broad spectrum of noxious and toxic chemicals and odors. The technology has been integrated into various air quality solutions including HVAC filters for air handling systems and stand-alone air purifiers for the home. The EnviroKlenz Air Purifier is a two-stage filtration device that contains the patented EnviroKlenz® earth mineral technology for noxious and toxic chemicals and odors, as well as a hospital-grade HEPA filter for fine particulate removal as small as 0.3 microns in size. The EnviroKlenz filtration process differs from that of carbon due to its ability to completely remove and/or neutralize various toxic and noxious chemicals and odors from the air, rather than storing them on a filter that could potentially re-release these pollutants back into the air as it becomes saturated.