It is no secret that the burning of fossil fuels causes air pollution and adversely affects the health of the human population. Over the last 10 years, research has been providing new insight about the health consequences of particulate air pollution. Generated by the use of fossil energy, respirable-sized particles pose a major threat to our environment and health.
Particulate includes dust, dust mites, dander, pollen, smoke, pesticides, herbicides, etc. When you see floating matter in a sunlight beam, it is particulate. Particulate is commonly measured in microns, a metric unit of measure. There are 25,400 microns in one inch. This dot (.) is approximately 1/64 of an inch wide and equals 615 microns. If you are considering a filter-based technology, the particulate size of the pollution you want to get rid of is important because filters are rated by the particulate size they can remove. For instance, most HEPA filter based technologies can only remove particulate as small as .03 micron.
Did you know?
To put particulates in perspective, here is a list of common particulates and the respective micron sizes:
Common Items and Their Respective Particle Sizes |
|
Postage Stamp, 1 inch high | 25,400 microns |
Eye of a Needle | 1,230 microns |
Beach Sand | 100 to 2000 microns |
Fertilizer | 10 to 1000 microns |
Pollens | 10 to 1000 microns |
Human Hair | 40 to 300 microns |
Mold Spores | 10 to 30 microns |
Combustion-related
Carbon Monoxide (motor vehicles, wood burning, open burning, industrial processes) |
up to 2.5 microns |
Coal Dust | 1 to 100 microns |
Anthrax | 1 to 5 microns |
Yeast Cells | 1 to 5 microns |
Bacteria | .5 to 20 microns |
Radioactive Fallout | .1 to 10 microns |
HIV | .1 microns |
Oil Smoke | .03 to 1 micron |
Tobacco Smoke | .01 to 1 microns |
Viruses | .002 to .3 microns |
Typical Atmospheric Dust | .001 to 30 microns |
Pesticides & Herbicides | .001microns |
Negative ionization, filtration and convection heat are the most effective technologies to remove particulate pollution. If you add filtration to a negative ionizer, it becomes far more powerful at removing particulate. The following are air purifiers we carry that are effective at removing particulate, listed in order of ability to quickly remove particulate from the air:
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