Source: U.S. Newswire

4/4/2005

YONKERS, N.Y. April 4 /U.S. Newswire/ —- The May issue of Consumer Reports (CR) presents new concerns about ionizing air cleaners: among five models that did a poor job of cleaning the air, several can expose users to potentially harmful ozone levels. Months of unbiased testing and expert investigation demonstrate why the five ionizing models with poor performance, including those with relatively high ozone generation, are "Not Recommended".

Ozone from ionizing air cleaners is a growing concern as sales increase. People with asthma or respiratory allergies are especially sensitive to indoor ozone, an irritant that can worsen asthma, deaden sense of smell, raise sensitivity to pollen and mold, and may cause permanent lung damage.

Source Control

Usually the most effective way to improve indoor air quality is to eliminate individual sources of pollution or to reduce their emissions. Some sources, like those that contain asbestos, can be sealed or enclosed; others, like gas stoves, can be adjusted to decrease the amount of emissions. In many cases, source control is also a more cost-efficient approach to protecting indoor air quality than increasing ventilation because increasing ventilation can increase energy costs. Specific sources of indoor air pollution in your home are listed later in this section.

Source: Global Direct Services

You Need an Air Purifier for Allergen, Virus, Odor and Gas Control.

Your choice of air purifier depends on what you are trying to achieve. For instance, if your main
goal is to clear the air of allergens, you should choose an air purifier which would remove the large particulates such as pollen with a pre-filter, but also smaller allergens, which would be particulates from 0.3 to 5 microns in size. An air purifier with a pre-filter can remove smaller allergens which include mold, bacteria, animal dander, fumes, and house dust mite allergens. A Hepa filter air purifier would trap particulates of this size and remove them from the air in your room. However, it is important to note that more than 90% of all particulates are 0.3 of a micron and smaller in size.

Source: air-purifiers-101.com

Lets start at the beginning before we discuss ozone air purifiers and what to watch out for. Ozone is a normal trace element that exists in the Earth's atmosphere. Activated oxygen, another name for ozone, is a three-atom form of pure oxygen (which has two atoms). When ozone comes into contact with pollutants it loses one of its atoms and "oxidizes" the pollutant, thereby destroying it.
Ozone air purifiers use electricity to produce ozone and then release into into the air to "seek and destroy" pollutants. Sounds great, but there are some important drawbacks to consider.

All Reviews of the top 10 air purifiers available on the market today publised at air-purifiers-101.com

Now, on to the list...

Top 10 Air Purifiers:

1. Oreck Super Air 8
2. Sharper Image Ionic Breeze GP
3. Friedrich C-90A
4. Sharper Image Ionic Breeze Quadra
5. Blueair 601
6. Bionaire BAP1300 Quietech HEPA
7. Honeywell HEPA 50250
8. Hunter Quietflo 30400
9. Vornado AQ535
10. Hunter HEPAtech 30375

All of these factors were considered when experts tested and compiled the list of the 10 best air purifiers available today.

Gathering of Indoor Environmental Professionals at IAQA-AmIAQ-IESO 2005 'Unification Conference' in Orlando Will Be Nation's Largest Ever

Source MARKET WIRE

ROCKVILLE, MD -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 08/15/2005

The opportunity for individuals working in the indoor air quality industry to attend a history-making event that provides first-class education and product displays may come only a few times during their careers.

Such an event takes place Oct. 6-9, 2005, at the Hilton in the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Fla. Billed as "The Unification Conference," the event serves as the first combined annual meeting of three leading organizations in the indoor environmental arena: the Indoor Air Quality Association (IAQA), the American Indoor Air Quality Council and the Indoor Environmental Standards Organization (IESO).

The most important things to know about air cleaners are:

• They cannot be used by themselves to clean the air. Pollutants have to be controlled at their source, and indoor air has to be well ventilated.
• Air cleaners have to be well maintained. Dirty air filters, for example, are not going to help you clean the air.
• Buy the right size of unit for the space you want to clean. The airflow should be sufficient to exchange the air in the room five or six times per hour; therefore, the size and efficiency of the filtering device should be determined in part by the size of the room. Do not waste your money buying models that sit on a table or hang around your neck.

• Install room-size units in rooms where you spend most of your time or have the worst symptoms.
• Locate the units as close as possible to any identifiable pollution source.
• Locate the unit away from doors, windows, and foot traffic, but not close to walls, corners, furniture, or other obstructions. This is so that air may easily reach the air cleaner.
• Air cleaners should always be used and maintained according to the manufacturer's instructions.

• Find out what kind of filter may be the best for you.
• Try renting a device and see if any health problems, such as allergies, improve.
• Be skeptical of exaggerated claims.
• Look for the CADR number; a larger CADR (Clean Air Delivery Rate is the amount of clean air measured in cubic feet per minute (cfm) that an air cleaner delivers to a room.) is better.
• Because larger units are noisier than smaller units are, just buy the size of unit you need for the size of room you need to clean.

Some air cleaners (called ozone generators) use an electrical charge to generate ozone in an attempt to clean the air. This has been done for more than 100 years.[7] Although ozone can be used in reducing odors and pollutants in unoccupied spaces (such as removing smoke odors from homes involved in fires), the levels needed to do this are much too dangerous to breathe. The levels of ozone produced by ozone generators sold as air cleaners are too low to clean the air and too high to be healthy. Scientific research has shown that low levels of ozone will not remove indoor air contaminants.[7]