Over the years, ozone has proved to be a very harmful gas in the home setting. If your air purifier generates ozone by any chance, you should strongly consider getting an alternative. Do you think it’s easy to tell, just by looking, if your Philips air purifiers produce ozone?
Philips air purifiers don’t produce ozone because they all use the HEPA filtering standard. Since HEPA filters pollutants from the air without complicated chemical processes, there is a slight chance of ozone emission. This quality makes air purifiers from Philips one of the safest you can get on the market.
This article will detail some of the disadvantages of ozone exposure in air purifiers. Also, you’ll learn the types of air purifiers that don’t produce ozone and where to get them.
Which Air Purifier Does Not Produce Ozone?
There are probably hundreds of different kinds of air purifiers, each with many distinct qualities. Going through every single one and stating if they do or do not produce ozone would be incredibly impractical. However, since ozone emissions depend on the kind of technology that the purifier uses, some generalization is allowed here.
Here are some types of air purifiers that you can safely buy without worrying about ozone emissions:
HEPA Purifiers
High-efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters refer to standards generally used to determine air purifiers’ effectiveness. In a general sense, it’s used to refer to air purifiers that get rid of dirt by trapping them in a criss-cross of fibers.
The fibers used in HEPA filters are usually produced from polypropylene with a small diameter, typically 2 microns or less. When air tries to pass through, the particles too large to make it through the net will be filtered. While this doesn’t sound like a very effective air purifying tactic, HEPA filters make up the bulk of the market.
Since air purifiers using HEPA technology are filtering the air, there is usually no ozone emission. However, checking the manual that accompanied your purifier may help uncover some unknown information that may overturn this fact.
PECO Purifiers
PECO is an improved version of PCO, and while the latter produces ozone, the former doesn’t, going by the manufacturer’s claims. The point of PECO purifiers is to improve on the existing technologies, and emitting ozone will make it a failure.
Since PECO works differently than HEPA, a bit of explaining is needed as to how it works. Unlike the previously mentioned technology, PECO purifiers don’t only trap impurities; they also neutralize them. Ideally, the air purifier will have to use strong substances to kill or neutralize pollutants.
However, PECO uses safe UV-A light instead of the UV-C light that facilitates ozone production. It also tries to convert the ozone content of the air to oxygen, causing a net reduction in atmospheric ozone.
Carbon Filters
The last type of air purifier that doesn’t produce ozone is carbon filters, and it removes air pollutants via adsorption. It simply changes the chemical composition of some contaminants, causing them to attract to the surface of activated carbon. Then, the filter makes an activated carbon surface available to remove all the impurities.
Carbon filtering may sound like a crude air-purifying tactic, but it works in most cases. When used with HEPA filters, the air purifier can remove around 99.7% of small particles in the air.
If you use any air purifying technologies mentioned so far, you shouldn’t worry about any ozone emissions. However, if you use other devices that possibly generate ozone, you may have to actively protect yourself.
Do Philips Air Purifiers Produce Ozone?
Reading the risks of air purifiers that produce ozone will make you want to get rid of yours immediately. However, since it’s impossible to list every air purifier to give them an ozone pass, I’ll have to resort to generalization. When talking about a brand in general, it’s much easier to determine if purifier models from the brand produce ozone.
In the case of Philips Air Purifiers, you shouldn’t worry about ozone emissions. Firstly, most air purifiers from Philips use the HEPA filtering technology, which I’ve cleared to be 100% emissions-free earlier. So if the Philips Air Purifier you’re purchasing says “HEPA” in the description, you’re good to go.
Secondly, every air purifier from Philips goes through sophisticated safety testing to ensure that it abides by specific safety standards. One of these safety standards is emissions testing, which measures how much ozone it emits. If it’s anything above what’s deemed normal for indoor use, the air purifier won’t even be available in the market.
Summarily, Philips air purifiers don’t produce ozone, and you should generally stop sweating about the safety of your gadgets too. If there were any that produces more ozone than is safe for you, regulars would’ve stopped them much earlier.
Is Philips Air Purifier HEPA?
One of the safest air-purifying standards is the HEPA standard, with basically zero harmful emissions. If you care about the chemicals that your gadgets give off, you may want to stick with a HEPA purifier. You may want to know if Philips air purifiers use this technology if this factor decides your purchase.
Fortunately, most air purifiers manufactured by Philips abide by the popular HEPA standard for air filters. While different Philips purifiers may use varying HEPA implementations, you should deem it safe, as long as there is HEPA.
However, to guarantee the best value for your money, look for “True HEPA” while buying Philips air purifiers. This variable doesn’t affect how much ozone it emits; it only denotes how many pollutants it can keep away. Unfortunately, some makeshift HEPA standards severely reduce the threshold for classifying a purifier as a HEPA, making this extra step necessary.
How Safe Are Philips Air Purifiers?
With most myths and theories flying around about air purifiers, anyone would be skeptical about their safety. However, if you’re using an air purifier from Philips, safety should be one of your last worries. There are many reasons why Philips air purifiers are among the safest on the market, and I’ll discuss some here.
For one, most air purifiers from Philips follow the HEPA standards, confirmed as one of the safest on the market. To be sure, you can confirm the presence of “True HEPA” in your purifier’s description. However, even if the HEPA standard is not “True HEPA,” ozone emission shouldn’t be one of your worries.
Also, all products from Philips, including its air purifiers, undergo extensive safety testing to ensure they’re harmless enough for homes. This safety testing includes checking for every possible risk factor that may make it dangerous for use. If any is found during this process, the air purifier won’t have made it to the market.
In short, your Philips air purifier shouldn’t have any significant safety hazards as long as you’re using it as expected. As long as it follows the HEPA standards, ozone emissions or any other danger shouldn’t be one of your worries.
How To Protect Yourself From Air Purifiers That Emit Ozone
Ozone is a dangerous chemical to have around the home, and the fact that you’re reading this is enough proof. If you recently discovered that your air purifier emits ozone, you should protect yourself from the harmful side effects. Fortunately, there are many ways to avoid most of the adverse effects of ozone exposure.
Here are some of the most effective ways to protect yourself against ozone emission from an air purifier.
Change to a Safer Air Purifier
Seriously, you don’t want to keep using an air purifier that emits ozone constantly. If you noticed that your air purifier is an ozone layer on its own, you might want to discard it for a better solution. HEPA, PCO, and activated carbon filtering technologies are all ozone-free alternatives for air purifiers.
If you’re looking to save as much money as possible, you can get by without changing the entire air purifier. Firstly, you can evaluate how much ozone it generates and compare it to the safety standards of ozone emission. If it stays within the safety threshold, other protection strategies should do an excellent job of keeping you safe.
Stay Out of The Room When Using Them
If you decide not to change your air purifier, you should at least stay away from it when it’s working. This is because an ozone-based air purifier generates the most emissions when it’s in use. Fortunately, being in the room while it’s working is unnecessary, making it easy to avoid exposure to the emissions.
You can turn on the air purifier and leave the room immediately to avoid exposure to ozone emissions. Then, after it has finished working, you can come in, disable it, and give the ozone some time to disperse.
When making use of an air purifier that generates ozone, you should always open the windows to give the ozone escape routes. These measures should generally protect you from most potential hazards of using a purifier that generates ozone.