Air Purifiers Question

[anonymous]

Hi,
I bought an air purifier for my bedroom, mainly for allergies (dust and pet dander). I bought a Hepa filter air purifier and I am wondering if those are more harmful than helpful for respiratory problems. I read about the Sharper Image air purifier and how it releases ozone into the air. Do Hepa filter air purifiers release ozone as well?
This is all new to me, any info would be very helpful.

Janice 26w/CF

 

[maple]

I work with these types of filters for use on respiratory protection equipment for our employees, but the definition of a HEPA filter is the same, no matter what it is used for.

HEPA stands for High Efficiency Particulate Air Filter and they do not release anything harmful into the air. They strictly filter the air passing through it. To meet the HEPA standards, a filter must collect 100% of the particles passing through it down to 0.3 micron (extremely small!!!) diameter particles. The more particles these filters collect, the more efficient they get, until the point where they are so plugged that air has difficulty passing through it. At that time you just change the filter and your air purifier is good as new. Many furnace type filters that we have in our homes are actually only 30% efficient, so HEPA filters are extremely more effective at removing harmful contaminants and allergens from the air.

Richard, 31 w/cf.