When it comes to buying a reliable air filtration system for your home, there are a couple of brands that you can opt for. One of them is AirDoctor, an air purification unit that packs an UltraHEPA filter that’s 100 times more effective than the normal HEPA filter, according to the company. This product is designed to remove ultra-fine particles, including those that are as small as .003 microns in size.
AirDoctor has a three-stage filtration system. The first filter is specifically designed to eliminate dust and animal hair. As for the second filter; it can remove gas, ozone, and volatile compounds, such as formaldehyde, around the homes. The third one is the UltraHEPA filter, which could remove ultra-fine particles.
Is it possible for air purifiers to remove formaldehyde? Does the AirDoctor purifier remove formaldehyde?
What other toxic gasses does the AirDoctor purifier remove? These and more are the questions that you’ll find answers to as you read through the rest of this article.
Do Air Purifiers Remove Formaldehyde?
Before going ahead to address the question above, let me start by talking about what formaldehyde is and why it’s important to remove it from your home.
What is Formaldehyde?
Formaldehyde is a strong-smelling, colorless gas that’s often used for the production of several different building materials. Most manufacturing companies take advantage of this gaseous substance to make pressed-wood products; some good examples are particleboard and plywood.
Furthermore, formaldehyde is a flammable gas and its odor can always be detected even at low concentrations. That’s not all; you can also call formaldehyde a volatile organic compound (VOC), which could lead to cancer and other severe health issues.
Don’t get me all wrong; formaldehyde isn’t all that bad, especially if you’re talking about it being at low concentrations. It’s a naturally occurring gas and the human body even produces a small amount of the chemical. However, in high concentrations, formaldehyde can certainly cause life-threatening health issues, such as cancer.
Speaking of cancer; experts reveal that formaldehyde can always cause a rare cancer of the nasopharynx – that’s the upper part of the throat. Apart from that, this chemical could also lead to a couple of other health problems, such as severe headache, nausea, shortness of breath, and runny nose. That’s not all; exposure to formaldehyde could also cause several different respiratory issues, including asthma attacks, change in lung function, and wheezing.
What Causes Formaldehyde Indoors?
In case you don’t know, formaldehyde is a type of chemical that one can get exposed to, both indoors and outdoors. However, formaldehyde level is usually high indoors, compared to outdoors.
Speaking of indoor sources, you need to understand that several factors could cause formaldehyde in your home. Some common ones are wood, paints, paper, permanent press fabric, plywood, glues, and adhesives.
That’s not all; cosmetics, insulation materials, dish soaps, medicines, leather treatments, and fabric softeners, are some other factors that could introduce formaldehyde inside your home. The chemical can also be released through the burning of fuel, paper, and wood materials around your home.
How to Reduce or Remove Formaldehyde
There are several different ways that you can follow to remove formaldehyde from your home. According to Lung.org, one effective approach is to always consider using products with low formaldehyde content when remodeling or building your home.
Another thing you can consider doing is to make use of a reliable air purifier, especially the one with activated carbon, to eliminate formaldehyde in your home.
Regarding the question of whether or not air purifiers are effective for removing this toxic chemical, the simple and direct answer is yes. Just make sure you go for an air purifier with an activated carbon filter. When it comes to removing formaldehyde, activated carbon has a high-efficiency rating and works pretty quickly (maximum of 6 hours).
It doesn’t end there; you can also eliminate or reduce the level of formaldehyde in your home by ventilating your indoor space. One way to go about doing that is by opening your windows for fresh air to blow inside. Furthermore, if you’re considering installing plywood, particleboard, and other formaldehyde-producing products in your home, ensure to air them out before running the process.
That said, the bottom line is that air purifiers can always help you remove formaldehyde around your home. However, when choosing a suitable product, ensure to go for air purifiers with activated carbon filters.
Does the AirDoctor Remove Formaldehyde?
To better answer this question, I’ll start by talking about what AirDoctor is and exactly what it could fix.
So, what exactly is AirDoctor and how does it work?
AirDoctor is an air purification unit that packs tons of amazing features; one of them is the high-quality, professional, sealed UltraHEPA filter. According to AirDoctor, this product is way better than the regular HEPA filters out there. Here’s what the company said regarding its UltraHEPA filter below:
“Filter is 100 times more effective than ordinary HEPA filters, capturing 100% of some of the most dangerous ultra-fine particles as small as 0.003 microns in size.”
The ordinary HEPA filter is only capable of capturing 99.97 percent of particles, which are about 0.3 microns in size. This is pretty low when you compare to what AirDoctor’s UltraHEPA filter can achieve, which is 100 percent of ultra-fine particles that are about 0.003 microns in size.
As earlier mentioned, the AirDoctor air purifier packs tons of excellent features. Apart from the UltraHEPA filter that comes with the system, two additional filters are also available. With that, it means the AirDoctor product has a three-stage filtration system.
The first filter is only capable of filtering and removing big size particles of about 50 microns, such as animal hair and dust. As for the second filter, it could help you remove various gases, ozone, and volatile compounds – a good example is a formaldehyde.
So, the bottom line is that AirDoctor is pretty much effective for eliminating unnecessary chemicals and gases around your home. It’ll help you filter out your indoor air and remove various gases and compounds, including formaldehyde.
Does the AirDoctor Remove Other Toxic Gases?
Several different forms of indoor air pollution are possible in the modern home. Some of these substances are often trapped in the air. Unfortunately, when exposed to the human body, they can cause several different health issues.
Allergens, Pollutants, and Irritants are three of the most common toxic gases that you may have around your home. What exactly are these substances and what effects do they have on human bodies?
- Allergens
Allergens are a type of antigen that could cause allergic reactions in humans. Not everybody reacts to allergens; this is simply because they have an immune system, which recognizes these allergens as dangerous, treating them with IgE, a type of antibody that protects the body against allergens.
Today, several different factors could cause these allergens. The most common ones are pollen, mold, dust mites, cockroaches, and animal dander.
Speaking of pollens; some that could cause allergies on human bodies are trees, grasses, or weeds. As for mold, this is more of a green, black, or white splotches that are present on plants. It often has spores, which spread in the air.
Dust mites are microscopic, eight-legged, insect-like pests that generate some of the most common indoor substances, such as allergens. They mostly consume dead flakes on the human skins.
Animal dander is a substance that contains tiny or microscopic flecks of skin shed, belonging to various animals such as dogs. You can say that it’s a skin cell that contains saliva or various materials from animals. Dander can cause allergies when trapped in the air of your home.
- Irritants
Irritants are one of the common toxic substances that might be trapped in your indoor air. A good example of these substances is combustion products, which could include second-hand tobacco smoke or exhaust from failing combustion appliances.
That’s not all; volatile organic compounds (VOCs), most especially from building materials and house cleaning products, could also be a good source of irritants.
AirDoctor Removes Irritants, Pollutants, and Allergens
The good news is that the AirDoctor air purifier is a perfect solution for removing various gaseous substances from your home. These substances include allergens, irritants, and pollutants.
As earlier mentioned, AirDoctor comes with an UltraHEPA filter, which helps to eliminate 100% particles, which are about 0.003 microns in size. Fortunately, allergens, pollutants, and irritants are all within the size range that AirDoctor’s UltraHEPA filter can handle.
Sources
https://www.lung.org/clean-air/at-home/indoor-air-pollutants/formaldehyde