Recently, air purifier usage has become rampant in houses, cars, and offices, even in public places. This is due to the constant increase of pollutants released into the atmosphere, from traffic to pests to industrial to smoking to cooking; there is no end to the sources of pollution on our planet. This has made people take significant actions to keep their life healthy, leading to the high amount of air purifiers used in most homes today.
Although an air purifier has many advantages and is beneficial to our health, there are many questions you might want to ask about the air cleaner. In this article, we have put together the answers to several questions, like whether air purifiers dry out the air, whether air purifiers can make you sick or not, and whether they can cause a sore throat or aggravate it health conditions.
Can air purifiers pose any danger or side effects of drying out the air?
Short Answer:
The straightforward answer is NO. The air purifier can neither add to nor remove moisture from the air.
Long Answer:
Air Purifiers don’t remove moisture from the air like a dehumidifier. It is a device whose principal function is to trap air pollutants particles like dust, pet dander, mites, mold etc. It makes use of a fan device or ionizers to draw in air and then disperses it into the atmosphere after filtering and removing all the harmful particles and It doesn’t affect the humidity level in the air by any means.
For a device to dry out the air, it would have to remove moisture by drawing it into the machine and passing it over a cold evaporator coil or a rotor, therefore cooling it below its dew point before releasing it back into the atmosphere.
Using a dehumidifier at a high extradition rate in your room for a long time could lead to dry air in the atmosphere and can cause multiple problems like dry skin, nose, and throat. Therefore, it is often essential to get auto-sensing units capable of detecting the humidity level.
Another machine that dries out the air is the air conditioner because it sucks in the air in the atmosphere and gives out fresh, dry air. Therefore, if your air is dry, it might be due to the dehumidifier or your air conditioner. Air purifiers are not designed to remove moisture in the air.
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Can an air purifier make you sick?
You might have been wondering whether it is the installation of that new air purifier in your house that has made you pick up specific illnesses more often than you do on a typical day, or maybe you are wrong, and it isn’t.
Well, you are right; certain air purifiers could cause you to be sick. These products are determined by the mode of air purification, i.e., Ionizers, UV-C technology or HEPA filter.
Although not all air purifiers are harmful to your health, there are various types that would be discussed explicitly on why some can work wonders for your health while others can be unsafe
How can air purifiers be harmful and aggravate health conditions?
The following are the three major types of air purifiers and how they affect or benefit our health.
- Ozone generators:
These types of air purifiers operate by generating a large amount of ozone that is released into the room. The ozone is meant to kill germs and living organisms in the atmosphere.
The ozone generators might be harmful to your health, ask me why? It generates a substantial amount of ozone that can cause long-term damage to the body when inhaled over time, affecting the respiratory system majorly.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has clearly stated that ozone is a lung irritant and don’t recommend using it in homes. Although it works effectively against odors, it operates at a level that is harmful to humans and can cause chest pain, throat irritation, worsening asthma, cough etc.
- Electronic air purifiers:
These devices attain air purification by drawing air into its self, which becomes electronically charged. When it is released into the atmosphere, it attracts dust and other pollutants to itself, therefore making them too heavy to remain in the atmosphere and causing them to drop on the nearest surface of any physical substance in the room such as a wall, ceiling, furniture, curtains, etc. examples include UV light, ionization, and electronic precipitation.
The major harmful drawback about using electric air purifiers is that after the particles it attracted are dragged down to various surfaces or the floor of the filter, with time they could accumulate and form dirt. This is called the “black wall effect”. Eventually, the dirt would be kicked back into the atmosphere since ionization doesn’t filter particulates out of the air or kills molds and viruses.
- Mechanical filtration:
In mechanical air filters, the air is drawn into the device and forced through filters that remove the airborne particles. There are a few types of these, including HEPA filter, HVAC filters, ceiling and mounted air purifiers, and portable air purifiers.
This air purifier is the safest because it purifies the air without releasing harmful substances into the atmosphere. Instead, it draws in air and passes it through several filters, thereby removing the harmful particulates.
The significant challenge, though, is that it needs to absorb most of the air in the atmosphere to purify it effectively, and since it’s most portable in size and faces obstructions in the room, the airflow might not reach most of the room.
Can I have an air purifier next to the bed?
After finally finding the best air purifier, you might want to ask if you could place it next to the bed for safety.
Yes, you can place it next to your bed, but it should be done carefully.
If you would place it next to your bed, it should be kept at least 6 to 10 ft from the head of your bed with the directional registers pointed towards you. Placing it any closer could make you feel drafty, and taking it farther away might mean you would not enjoy the full benefit of breathing in filtered air.
The unit should be placed squarely on the floor, and you should ensure that no objects are placed between the air purifier and your bed because they could hinder proper air filtration.
Some electronic devices that run on similar wavelengths can cause interference, so avoid placing air purifiers close to devices like televisions, microwaves, and stereo equipment. However, they are friendly to computers and other small appliances.
Can I use Humidifier and air purifier in the same room?
Yes. There is no harm in having an air purifier and humidifier all in one room. As a matter of fact, it is the right combination.
In a situation with dry air, although you might have an air purifier around it wouldn’t be of much help because it simply cleans the air, and you would still be prone to things like de-moisturized skin and breathing problems. To counteract the dryness in the air, you would need a humidifier.
So the air purifier and humidifier combo can purify the air you breathe and add moisture to it, therefore cleaning the air in your home and never leaving it dry.
Can air purifiers cause sore throat?
A typical air purifier that uses a HEPA filter would not cause you to develop a sore throat; as a matter of fact, they are designed to do the opposite. The HEPA filters in air purifiers help prevent a sore throat because they eliminate bacteria in the air that makes you sick without drying off the air.
Some air purifiers (ozone and ionic) can cause irritations, but this is not the same thing as a sore throat. Suppose you already have a chronic respiratory condition like asthma when using the ozone or ionic air purifier. In that case, you might notice some irritations it causes because they emit charged particles into the atmosphere to clean it.
Along with the charged particles are ozone residues, which are the secondary cause of throat irritation to people with respiratory issues. If you don’t have a condition like this, you would most likely not notice any side effects.
In summary – Can air purifiers dry out the air?
Here is the recap of everything explained above
- Air purifier does not have any capability whatsoever of removing or adding to the moisture content;
- Ozone generators that are presented as air cleaners can cause some harm to your health;
- It is even advisable to use a humidifier alongside your air purifier.
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