The threat posed by the Covid-19 pandemic to the global community was so much that certain measures had to be put in place in the fight against it. This gave rise to the proliferation of essential products like face masks, disinfecting sprays, hand gloves, sanitizers etc. However, air purifiers for Covid 19, even though necessary haven’t been as popular as the other aforementioned essential products. Considering that fight against Covid-19 is not yet won, medical experts are recommending the use of air purifiers as added measures.
Why Air Purifier Is Being Recommended?
The most reliable air purifiers, otherwise known as air cleaners are not just effective in the elimination of smoke, pollen, and dust among other airborne irritants that could be potentially harmful but can as well help in eliminating or at least reducing to the barest minimum, germs and bacteria that could be harmful to humans if allowed to thrive.
It is interesting to note that the Centers for Disease Control, CDC has confirmed that air purifiers can go a long way in mitigating airborne contaminants including germs, bacteria and viruses within any confined space.
This is even more so in peculiar situations whereby windows can’t be opened for any reason which would result in poor ventilation. Diverse studies have proven that trapped air or indoor air can be as much as 2 to 5 times more polluted or prone to airborne infection than free-flowing outdoor air.
The reason is that free-flowing air would not allow toxic substances to build up in concentrated levels, unlike trapped air. However, with a good air purifier, such threat will be neutralized regardless.
How Do Air Purifiers Operate?
Basically, air purifiers operate by sulking air through their chamber as well as filter, thereby capturing dust, pollen, germs, bacteria and other similar dangerous particles that could be potentially harmful before ultimately releasing a purified version of the same air into the surrounding atmosphere.
The more sophisticated air purifiers are not just effective against odors, smoke, dust and pollen but can also be used as a cooling or heating device in regulating temperature.
How Do HEPA Air Purifiers Differ From Others?
HEPA (which stands for high-efficiency particulate air) filters are reputed for the premium results they offer because they capture unwanted air particles in a more efficient way than other conventional ones.
However, regular air purifiers like the random ones used in offices and homes are known to trap only medium to coarse unwanted air particles due to their filtration design, unlike HEPA air purifiers that are modified to trap even the finer air particles, thus making them more reliable and efficient.
In the past, HEPA air purifiers used to be quite scarce and significantly more expensive than the regular ones, but they are readily available today and can be easily found in offices, homes, cars and public places.
However, there is still some disparity between what is known as True HEPA and HEPA air purifiers and users should be able to understand the differences so they would always get the best results.
The True HEPA air purifiers are reputed to trap as much as 99.97% of all particles up to 0.3 microns, which supersedes odors and allergens but in contrast, a modified HEPA-type filter can only trap particles that are up to 2 microns or more in size, which include dust and pet dander among others.
Even though such particle sizes aren’t visible to the naked eye, they are no less dangerous as they can pass through the human nostril and affect internal organs.
Can Air Purifiers Truly Protect Against Covid-19?
This is a popular question that has been asked severally but the answer is not as straightforward.
According to the CDC, such types of air purifiers can be effective in reducing the concentration volumes of Covid-19 causing virus which in turn helps to reduce the chances of infection. That notwithstanding, the CDC equally emphasizes that air purifiers are not enough to be solely used as a preventive measure against Covid-19 but instead encourages its use in addition to other hygienic measures like handwashing with soap, use of sanitizers etc.
Furthermore, research has proven that proper ventilation whether through vents, windows or doors can be helpful in reducing chances of transmission and this is even more so with air purifiers.
How Could Air Purifiers Be Used For Covid-19 Prevention?
Aside from the traditional use of air purifiers in filtering out odors, smoke and pollen, it has been upgraded to guard against potentially harmful bacteria and germs.
More recently, it has been found useful as a proactive measure against the spread of Covid-19.
In the United States, as wildfires ravaged its West Coast, demand for air purifiers skyrocketed as desperate local communities found it essential as a combo utility against both smoke pollution and Covid-19.
Examples of Air Purifiers for Covid 19
This latest air purifier from Coway is not only aesthetically pleasing to behold but promises to set the bar higher in the field of air purifiers.
It has a three-layer filtration process and is capable of neutralizing minute particles as little as 0.001 microns, and that’s actually smaller than most viruses and bacteria!
It has an inbuilt wireless charging station that can charge phones and is compatible with Amazon Alexa as well as Google Assistant.
It is indeed a sophisticated air purifier that can serve multiple purposes. The price is not yet known as the product is yet to be officially released.
This air purifier makes use of HEPA filters as well as UVC bulbs, a combo that is powerful enough to provide germicidal irradiation which helps in eliminating viruses and bacteria.
The producers of EnviroKlenz claim that it is 99.9% effective in eradicating viruses that are as minute as 0.025 microns. The price of this air purifier is set at around $800 per unit.
By making use of its 4-stage HEPA filtration process, Winix 5500-2 air purifier is capable of filtering Covid-19 as well as 99.97% of other unwanted allergens that are as little as 0.3 microns.
It also makes use of a safe PlasmaWave technology to eradicate potentially harmful pollutants instead of the more commonly used UV versions that have side effects. At just $160 per unit on Amazon, this product is relatively less expensive than others.
Conclusion
The use of air purifiers has become increasingly more popular in recent years and has become a necessity in many homes with the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic and its mutant variants such as Omicron.
Therefore, it is important to understand what type of air purifiers for Covid 19 people should go for and that’s the essence of this article.
If you have any questions about buying air purifiers for Covid 19, let me know in the comments below. I will be more than happy to help you out. Thanks a lot.