With every new air cleaning, air purifying, air filtering product that comes on the market, there’s a new set of myths that get started. Find out what’s true, what’s partially true, and what’s just plain wrong in our Myth Buster series. You’ll get straight talk about indoor air quality and the different technologies designed to clean your air. By the time you’re done, you’ll be an expert in what is and isn’t true about IAQ products.
Myth:
Indoor Air Quality has little impact on your health
Fact:
The quality of the air you breathe affects your health both short-term and long-term. Poor indoor air quality saps your energy, drains cognitive ability, and makes you more susceptible to respiratory issues. Over time, poor indoor air quality has been proven to contribute to heart disease, dementia, and chronic respiratory diseases.
Myth:
Any particles in your home’s air will eventually pass through and be trapped by your furnace filter.
Fact:
The airborne particles most closely associated with health problems—especially long-term health problems—are so small they are called “ultrafine particles”. Being so small, they aren’t affected by air flow and that means they hang around in the air you breathe. Your expensive filter never even has a chance to capture them.
Myth:
A HEPA filter is the only filter you need.
Fact:
HEPA filters are very good at trapping particles. By definition, HEPA means High Efficiency Particulate Arrestance filter, capable of removing over 97% of particles down to 0.3 microns in size. But, to trap a particle, the particle must first travel through the filter. Most ultrafine particles are unaffected by airflow, and so are never drawn into the filter to be trapped. This means a HEPA filter is, at best, a partial solution to indoor air quality.
Myth:
If the air looks clean, it is clean
Fact:
Harmful gases like ozone and carbon monoxide and volatile organic chemicals, and bacteria and viruses, are not visible. Many of them are odorless. There is no way for you to tell if you are breathing them in, but if you are, they can be very harmful to your health.
Myth:
Better energy efficiency means better indoor air quality
Fact:
In many cases, energy efficient home construction techniques make the home relatively air tight. It follows that these homes may have poor ventilation that results in worse indoor air quality than homes that are constructed with more “leaks”.
Myth:
“Friendly Oxidizers” are Safe
Fact:
Oxidation is the loss of electrons during a reaction by a molecule, atom or ion. Oxidation can damage vital molecules in our cells, including DNA and proteins, which are responsible for many body processes. Molecules such as DNA are needed for cells to function properly, so if too many are damaged, the cell can malfunction or die.
Myth:
The furnace or air conditioning system filter that I bought at the big box store is effective at removing airborne pathogens and VOCs.
Fact:
Airborne pathogens, like bacteria and viruses, and airborne volatile chemical compounds (VOCs) are so small that these filters are essentially ineffective at removing these potentially harmful contaminants.
Myth:
“Ozone Free” means zero ozone is produced by the device.
Fact:
UL 868 Sec 40 allows 50 ppb ozone or less to be labeled as “ozone free”. In most cases it is highly probable that the device produces some ozone.
Myth:
All air particulates are about the same size
Fact:
The size of particles in the air varies widely. Pollen, dust, and mold particles are fairly large—sometimes even visible to the human eye—while viruses, bacteria, and volatile chemical compounds (yes, VOCs are particles) are less than a micron in diameter. For comparison, a strand of human hair is about 70 microns in diameter. Over 90% of all airborne particulates are 1 micron and smaller.
Myth:
Indoor Air Quality is better, typically, than Outdoor Air Quality
Fact:
In isolated cases, that may be true. But most of the time, indoor air quality is two to five times worse, and sometimes ten times worse, than outdoor air quality. The EPA ranks indoor air quality as one of its top five environmental threats to public health.
Myth:
A newly built home will have better indoor air quality
Fact:
Building materials, paint, and new carpet can release volatile organic chemicals. Often referred to as outgassing, some products continue to release VOCs for as long as five years.
Myth:
Ozone is a safe way to neutralize bad things in the air.
Fact:
Ozone generators can effectively neutralize odors and other air contaminants, but the ozone produced by these machines is itself a health hazard according to state and federal guidelines.
Myth:
If the air smells good, then it’s safe to breathe
Fact:
The air freshener industry is a $1.6 billion market. But air fresheners rely on chemical compounds to make the air smell good. These chemicals, or VOCs, contribute to poor indoor air quality.
Myth:
A portable air purifier will protect my family in my entire home
Fact:
Portable air purifiers can only remove airborne particles that are brought to it based on the airflow design of the device. In addition, various air purifiers range in effectiveness.
Myth:
The big box store filter will not cause a loss of efficiency, comfort or increase repair bills on my furnace or air conditioner
Fact:
Most of the brand name filters sold by big box stores are, in fact, very restrictive to airflow and will cause significant performance problems with your heating and air conditioning system. If the Initial Resistance rating is .20 in. w.c., then it is excessively restrictive and will cause higher utility costs, reduced comfort, more frequent repairs, more noise and shortened equipment life.
Myth:
My whole-home HEPA filter is keeping my family safe from airborne contaminants.
Fact:
Nearly all airborne particles, pathogens and VOCs are so small and light that they never get caught up in the airstream and brought back to the filter. From a scientific point of view, everything airborne is a particle. Nearly all of these particles are below 1 micron in size and are so lightweight that they will stay relatively suspended in the air. In order for them to ever reach any filter, something must cause them to move.