An air cleaner (sometimes called air "purifier") is a must for your home. The reality is that airborne pollutants and chemicals are generated indoors as well as outdoors. Homes can contain 50 times more contaminants than the outdoor environment.* If you suffer from asthma or allergies to mold or dust, you already understand how improving indoor air quality can offer a tremendous improvement to your health. But everyone can benefit from cleaner air in the home.
"I keep a clean house!" may be your first reaction, but you may have unknowingly been contributing to the problem.
Conventional household cleaning products are a major source of pollutants in the home (which is why bathroom cleaning product manufacturers especially recommend that you ventilate during use). In addition to cleaning products, other obvious household culprits include pesticides, lead dust from older paints, mold in walls, and items made of vinyl or plastic. Less obvious sources are formaldehyde and/or volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released into the air from particleboard or plywood, synthetic air fresheners, furniture made with polyurethane foam, and carpets made from synthetic material. That "new carpet" or "new paint" smell is actually chemicals being released (or "off-gassed") into the air. There are toxic contaminants with little or no odor that are very difficult to detect as well, (e.g., flame retardants in carpet padding and pesticides in wool carpets).
How do you combat all of these factors without replacing everything in your home? A high-quality air cleaner that continually cleans your household air is your best first line of defense. Mary Cordaro Inc. only recommends air cleaners that combine pounds of carbon for VOCs plus high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) that filter out mold, dust mites and dust. Filtering dust and fine particles is critical because some chemicals, called SVOCs, or semi volatile organic compounds) bind to dust particles to create contaminated dust.
Because our philosophy is that a healthy home should begin with your bedroom, we offer several models that are wired with special shielded cable so that no harmful EMFs are introduced into the bedroom.
* EPA and the California Air Resources Board, from "Cancer Study Cites Hazards of Indoor Air" 6/22/06, Los Angeles Times.
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