Claims made by manufacturers of air purifiers often look great, but then the system itself may fail to live up to your expectations. Air quality is important to your and your family’s health, whether it is at home, kindergarten, school or workplace. Therefore, we put together some guidelines for you to consider, before you invest in an air purifier.

Theoretical versus actual efficiency of an air purifier. High efficiency particulate air (HEPA) is the key word these days when it comes to marketing an air purifier. HEPA air purifiers give excellent performance in hospitals and industrial clean rooms. But be cautious when an air purifier manufacturer claims that their home purifier

Indoor air pollution can be a real health issue - worsening asthma and allergy symptoms, increasing the risk of heart disease and even decreasing your live expectancy. You could be breathing in remains from house dust mites (in dust), pet dander, viruses, pollen, bacteria, volatile organic compounds and smoke particles - to name but a few. All of these are considered particle air pollution. For the most part, these particles are invisible to the naked eye.

Using a home air purifier is an effective way of reducing air pollution in your home and you may find that your asthma and allergy symptoms improve as a result. I say 'might' because it its essential that you know what kind of air pollution you want to filter out of the air and choose the right air purifier to do so. The most effective filtration technology for particulate pollution (such as dust mite allergens, pollen, a large range of traffic pollution, and mould) is

IKEA - the Swedish furnishing maker- has unveiled it's first air purifier. The air cleaner's name is “Patrull” (meaning “patrol” in Swedish) and it looks a little bit like Star Wars' r2d2 with a shiner. IKEA advertises its air purifier as a general air cleaner, effective for filtering out pollen, dust, dust mite allergens, and tobacco smoke particles. The air cleaner costs £69.99 and the replacement filters cost £14.99.

The unit is relatively small, light and has an IKEA typical family friendly design. The air purifier is made out of white plastic and has three fan speed settings. The IKEA air purifier's fan is relatively quite on all three settings, and manages to move a good amount of air.

The filter of the IKEA air purifier is a Flimmer® filter that consists of polypropylene fibres - a synthetic filament. In this kind of filter, the fibres are electrically

Parent Tested Parent Approved (PTPA) Media choose IQAir’s HealthPro air cleaner to be one of it’s exclusive “Top 10 Products for Parent.”

PTPA works with a network of more then 20,000 parents, to test and review products from 500 different companies. PTPA’s mission is to “marry innovative companies with discerning consumers,” by providing a platform for companies to introduce their products for evaluation, and giving “feedback from the experts that matter most: parents!” PTPA prides itself in discovering, appraising and promoting new products designed to enrich family living. Products range from baby clothing, toys and accessories to parent-focused products that enhance the day-to-day life.

"The frequent use of household cleaning sprays may be an important risk factor for adult asthma", says Prof. Jan-Paul Zock of the Municipal Institute of Medical Research in Spain. The recent study that was co-authored by Prof. Zock showed that the risk of developing asthma was on average 30-50% higher among people who were regularly exposed to cleaning sprays. Cleaning sprays that are particularly harmful are air fresheners, furniture cleaners and glass cleaners.

According to the study, the exposure to certain cleaning products during professional cleaning work has been associated with asthma for sometime. This study, however, focused on the respiratory effects of nonprofessional home cleaning.

The researchers studied more than 3,500 subjects across 10 European countries. Participants were assessed for asthma, wheeze, physician diagnosed asthma and allergies during follow-up. They were also asked to report the number of times per week they used cleaning products.

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