Burn Candles At Both Ends…But Don’t Burn Them In The House

Candles have bee around for almost as long as man has been on this earth.  They were the very first form of man-made light and were used almost exclusively for many years as the main source of light for houses and buildings. The use of a burning wick and combustible fluid or fuel have improved over the years but the basic candle technology is alive and well in 2010.

Today candles are sold on-line, in candle shops, specialty shops and in most large retail stores. They are scented and many of them come in hand crafted jars with all types of accessories. They provide a nice accent to any room and the scented candles can even be therapeutic. However, they generate a lot of airborne particulate that can be health concern.

Most candles use a standard cotton/wax wick. As the wax burns you have the release of the scented wax used in the candle making process and unburned hydrocarbons or candle soot. You may not notice the carbon soot coming off of the burning candle, but if you hold a piece of clear glass about three inches above the flame  you will eventually see the deposition of carbon or soot on the underside of the glass. This soot is light and easily becomes airborne.

You may notice the candle soot when  you change out the furnace filter in your HVAC system. Ever wonder why the filter was black and not grey? Did you think this was just some really dark dirt? Think again. Much of the dark material on the filter is soot from the candles. The soot becomes airborne, is picked up in the return air grills in your home and then deposited on the filter media.

The unfortunate reality is that much of the carbon soot is extremely small and what you actually see is only about 40% of the soot. The other 60% is too small to see with the naked eye. Some of this sub-micron soot will pass through the furnace filter and end up being deposited on your walls, furniture, floors, etc. It can also be inhaled into your lungs.

Over time this can become a health issue especially if you have severe allergies or respiratory issues. For small children with developing lungs, keeping candles out of their rooms is a good idea. If you use multiple candles the amount of soot is increased. And, candles that are scented are made with special additives to the wax to create the scent. Some of these chemicals are released during the burning of the candle and may create some additional health issues.

Pure Air Systems has been making HEPA and Carbon based air filtration systems since 1985. HEPA filters are capable of removing all of the soot particles produced by the candles. The systems incorporated carbon as well as the HEPA filters and the carbon will remove the gaseous molecules produced from the scented candles. These systems easily attach to the return air side of your heating cooling system.

For more information on the complete line of air filter and filtration systems offered by PAS as well as more information on particulate removal, please go to our website at: www.pureairsystems.com.

Preventative Health Care Now A Priority

The passage of the new health care bill one issue comes to the fore front again. That is the subject of wellness or preventative health care.

The emphasis is on preventative health care for good reason. People without access to health care or those who only go to the Doctors after they have been ill or injured for a time usually require more treatment than if they had visited a physician when their health problem first started. This means more money is spent with more aggressive treatments and in many cases specialists being involved.

While the old expression of “you can’t be too careful” often falls on deaf ears in the case of health care prevention it should be your mantra.

We all know that regular exercise, a good nutritious diet and not smoking and drinking to excess is the best course to minimize health problems and reduce the amount of money spent on health care.  For this reason “an ounce of prevention” is absolutely true.

Along with life style selections we make the environment in which we live and work are critical to good preventative health practices. While we often can’t control our work environment we can have control of our home environments. This means living in a properly heated and cooled space with the proper amount of moisture and clean air.

It has been proven that exposure to small amounts of harmful airborne contaminants over a long period of time can be more harmful than short term exposure. It is for these reason that you should always consider using high efficiency filtration on your heating/cooling system as you spend at least 8 hours per day in your home.

The level of small, sub-micron particles that are in the air in most homes are relatively high. Aside from the normal airborne dust and dirt you also have pet dander, particles from rugs, clothing, skin flakes and dust mite feces. In addition any pollen or ragweed or other plant pollens are brought into the home via your clothing. Add to that the gaseous molecules from the various cleaning chemicals used in the home and you can have an environment that does not promote good, preventative health care.

Pure Air Systems has been manufacturing commercial grade HEPA and Carbon based air filtration systems since 1985. These systems used true, certified 99.99% at .03 microns HEPA filters and commercial grade carbon. They can be attached to your existing heating/cooling system or used as stand-alone systems.

For more information on the complete line of HEPA and Carbon systems from Pure Air Systems, please go to our website at: www.pureairsystems.com

Live With A Smoker – Die With A Smoker

There is no end to the amount of discussion on the health issues related to smoking.  Everyone either knows someone who smokes or is a smoker. Today most public buildings don’t allow smoking as do offices, hospitals, schools and churches. In fact the only places you can smoke is outside, in your own home (maybe) and in bars that still allow smoking.

If you live with a smoker or work in an environment where smoking is allowed you know the challenges of getting smokers to quit or smoke less. Smoking is more addictive than the majority of illegal drugs. And the cost of smoking in dollars for health care is enormous. In addition, smoke from cigarettes and cigars will coat the walls, ceilings and HVAC duct work with a nicotine substance in any home or office building over time.

If you are around a smoker in your home or office and you inhale the smoke for a continued period of time you will in essence have the same lung damage as the smoker himself. It is for this reason that smoking is prohibited in so many places.

Cigarette and cigar smoke contain hundreds of chemicals many of which are considered carcinogens. Breathing in these chemicals over time can create significant health problems. In addition you have a constant odor problem with smoke which tends to cling to everything, including your hair and clothing.

Some of the health issues include OCPD, respiratory dysfunction, eye infections, lung cancer to name a few. It is important therefore to minimize your contact with cigarette smoke. If you live with a smoker they need to smoke outside. If you work with a smoker and he or she won’t quit, you need to find another position in the company or find another job.

Cigarette and cigar smoke is very small. The amount you see with the naked eye represents only 35% to40% of the smoke coming off the cigarette. The rest is less than 10 microns and much is it is less than 1 micron in size. It is this smaller size particle that remains in the lung linings and mucus membranes and is not expelled when you breathe out.

Due to the nature of cigarette and cigar smoke it is not easy to remove this contaminant with general duty air filters or even ventilation. Pure Air Systems has been selling its HEPA and Carbon based filtration systems for smoke removal since 1985. HEPA filters will capture over 99.99% of the smoke that it sees. The carbon media will adsorb much of the nicotine odor.

While the majority of our HEPA systems for smoke removal were installed in restaurants, bars, and bingo halls, a large number have been sold to homeowners. These systems are attached to the return air side of the HVAC system and will capture all the cigarette smoke and odor that is pulled into the system through the return air grills in the home.

If you are really serious about the air you breathe in your environment then you need to get some serious filtration systems that will actually remove the harmful smoke particles and odor.

For more information on the complete line of HEPA an Carbon based filtration systems offered by Pure Air Systems, go to our website at: www.pureairsystems.com

I’ve Got You Under My Skin

As part of the natural repair functions our bodies go through each day, one of those  necessary functions is both good and bad. Each day the body sheds over 1,000,000 skin flakes from your body. This is a natural process that allows the old, used skin cells to flake off (so to speak) and be replaced with new skin cells.

Again, this process takes place every day for everyone of us. So, for example, if you have a family of four they will generate 4 million skin flakes a day. These skin flakes range in size from less than 1 micron to 30 or 40 microns in size. Over 30% of the dust you see in the air ( dust particles in the sunlight through the window) are skin flakes…… Oh yes they are!

Okay! So what happens to these skin flakes? Well, some of them are picked up by the vacuum and those that stay airborne may be removed through the filter in located in the return air side of your heating/cooling system. The rest are eaten. Yep, eaten by dust mites.

For all the bad press the dust mites get ( and there is a reason for that)  they are natures own trash disposal system. You see, dust mites feed off of skin flakes.  We call them dust mites since the term “skin flake mites” is too long and rather disgusting. Yet, that is exactly what they do. Munch on your dead skin!

When your body is at rest whether sleeping, or sitting on the couch, your skin cells are being shed. These flakes tend to stay in place longer and thus become the better feeding grounds for dust mites. When the dust mites eat your dead skin they produce small pellets or fecal matter. They produce up to 20 of these digested skin pellets each day. It is these pellets or “dust mite feces” that affects millions of allergy sufferers.

Dust mites themselves are relatively large so they seldom become airborne. The dust mite feces or pellets are very tiny easily become airborne.  They are aspirated into the body through the lungs and for many people these pellets can cause some severe allergic reactions for a number of individuals.

No matter how often you dust, vacuum and clean your home you will have some of these dust mites in your enclosed living environment.  Since the main allergen is the dust mite feces, the removal of these tiny pellets is essential.

Since the dust mite feces is light and can be airborne it is essential that the filter or filtering device you have in your heating/cooling system be effective on removing small, less than 10 micron sized particles. In addition, you need to keep the fan in your heating/cooling system to run all the time so setting the fan switch to “fan on” on your thermostat will keep the air moving and continuously draw the airborne particulate back to the filter.

Pure Air Systems has been making HEPA and Carbon based air filtration systems since 1985. These commercial grade HEPA units are designed to attach to any forced air, ducted heating/cooling system and can remove 99.99% of all airborne particles 0.3 microns or larger. These systems are extremely effective at removing dust mite feces and other airborne allergens.

For more information on the complete product line please go to our website at: www.pureairsystems.com

Beam Me Up Scotty!

Space. The final frontier. These are the voyages of…….lost in space. Walk into room and can’t remember why you went there? Have that fuzzy kind of brain doesn’t seem to be working day? Maybe a senior moment…but you are only 35? Feel lethargic? Can’t concentrate? What the heck is going on?

Interesting thing about Oxygen..too much or too little can be lethal. The right balance of 21% Oxygen and 79% Nitrogen keeps us humans happy and healthy. The right balance of CO2 in the atmosphere is also critical to our happiness and well being.

Spatial Disorientation….a new frontier. This is the more common syndrome caused by a lack of fresh air or oxygen and too much CO2, or stale air. Most people experience this in schools, offices or homes where there is little or no fresh air exchange taking place. When you have room that is full of people the amount of CO2 goes up and the amount of O2 or oxygen tends to go down if there is no method of introducing outside fresh air.

The typical symptoms of this problem include, lethargy, headaches, inability to concentrate, foggy/groggy feeling and total lack of focus. This is why many of the older schools in the US that had through the wall heating/cooling units and no central systems to introduce fresh air  had so many students falling asleep or having significant problems concentrating in class by the middle of the afternoon.

The majority of the homes that have been built in the last 10 to 15 years in the US have incorporated new energy conserving building technology and materials to keep the house warmer or cooler using less energy. These “tight” homes also have little or no natural ventilation which means no way to introduce any fresh air into the living space.

While the ability to introduce outside air through “economizers” incorporated in many of the commercial HVAC systems used in commercial building is fairly common, this is not the case for the residential market. Unless requested by the home owner, fresh air dampers or mechanisms designed to introduce outside air through the HVAC unit are never installed in homes. And for good reason.

When the outside air temperature is higher or lower than the inside ambient temperature it makes little sense to introduce cold or hot humid outside air into the house since you will now have to expend more energy to heat or cool that additional outside air. Yet, with the tightness of the homes, some effort should be made to introduce small amounts of  outside, fresh conditioned air into the home.

Pure Air Systems has been making HEPA based, fan powered air filtration systems since 1985. These units are designed to either attach to an existing heating/cooling unit or as stand-alone systems. PAS HEPA units are attached to the heating/cooling units using the partial by-pass concept. In this way they pull a small portion of the total return air flow and filter it before putting it back into the supply side. These units can be used to introduce small amounts of outside air, filter it and mix it with the return air from the HVAC unit and then introduce it  back into the house…..without using more energy to heat or cool.

For more information on the complete PAS product line and their capabilities please go to our website at: www.pureairsystems.com

I Love My Pets But They Don’t Love Me!

Americans have a very strong love affair with their pets. We spend over 4 Billion dollars a year feeding, grooming and keeping them healthy and happy and for many of us they have become our best friends. And the types of animals we keep as pets has broadened to include snakes, turtles, iguanas and birds of all types, sizes and varieties.

We take our pets everywhere we go; on planes, trains, in the car, on our bikes, to outdoor restaurants, to parks and in some cases sporting events. We take them everywhere and they love it. Aside from the unconditional love we get from our pets they also give us animal dander and other allergens that can be significantly challenging to us humans.

It is interesting to note, that of all the allergies that people suffer from, allergies caused by animals (dogs, cats, birds, etc) are second only to ragweed and pollen. Cats, for example, produce cat dander, tiny flakes of skin that have a protein that can cause itchy eyes, skin rashes, runny nose, congestion, wheezing and sneezing. Dog dander is not as strong an allergen but some people do have similar reactions to dog dander as they do to cat dander.

Birds are another issue. Like cat and dog dander, bird dander and their feathers are very light and stay airborne for long periods of time. Keeping birds in a small enclosed area will tend to concentrate the bird dander in one area. When you are in that area you will be exposed to the higher concentrations of the dander. Allergies to bird dander are similar to those caused by cats and dogs.

Pure Air Systems has been manufacturing HEPA based air filtration systems since 1985 for the residential, commercial, industrial and institutional markets. Many of the HEPA based systems sold to homeowners are used specifically to assist in removing/reducing the concentrations of animal dander in the air.

It is interesting to note, that many of Pure Air’s customers who have cats and know that they are allergic to cats, will keep the cats knowing that the HEPA filtration system is removing a significant amount of the airborne dander.  This is also true of dog and bird owners. For the most part,  pet owners will do everything they can to keep their pets in spite of the allergy issues. Only if the pet owner is so sensitive to the specific pet that even petting them causes some allergic reaction, then and only then will they make the decision to give up their pet.

It is necessary to consider your own health issues and issues of other family members as is relates to allergies to pet dander especially if the reactions are significant and can cause severe respiratory issues. We know you love your pets, but sometimes you may have to practice some tough love and make a decision that is best for you and your family in the long run.

For more information on the complete line of HEPA and Carbon based filtration systems and allergy issues, please go to our website at: www.pureairsystems.com

Pure Air Systems And The Health Care Industry

Removal and or reduction of airborne pathogens in the hospital has been an on-going problem for years. The amount of deaths due to post-operative infection in the hospital are about 5.4% per 1000 patients. This may seem high but infections due to opportunistic bacteria (MRSA) and some viruses are on the rise.

Part of the reason for this increase is the ever-changing issue of health care costs and discharging patients much sooner than ever before. In many cases patients that have undergone surgery may acquire an infection in the hospital but it doesn’t manifest itself until the patient is home. And, once the infection is discovered many of these new drug resistant bacteria are difficult if not impossible to treat.

In order to minimize any possibility of infection during surgery hospitals, out-patient surgery centers and burn wards all use HEPA filtered air to maintain a positive pressure arena to eliminate the possibility of infection setting in while the patients body is opened up.

HEPA filters and HEPA systems are also used in the manufacturing of drugs by the pharmaceutical industry to maintain an absolute sterile environment during the manufacturing and packaging processes. Laboratories that do any type of DNA or clinical research all use HEPA systems to protect the health care technicians.

Pure Air Systems has been manufacturing commercial grade HEPA based air filtration systems for the health care industry since 1985. All of the HEPA filters used in the PAS systems are certified to 99.99% at 0.3 microns and smaller.

Pure Air Systems HEPA filtration systems are recognized around the world as the most powerful, adaptive and operationally the best performing systems for the reduction and removal of airborne pathogens in the health care market.

Pure Air Systems makes fan powered, variable speed, low to high volume (CFM) systems that can be adapted to almost any application where the need for HEPA filtration is required. PAS units use a Genteq (GE) ECM variable speed 120/240 volt 50/60Hz motor that can  be used anywhere in the world.

In many parts of Africa and other third world countries, PAS HEPA units are used as the primary air filtration system for their surgery rooms. The larger 2000 HS, 2000 CFM units can pressurize an operating room that is 20′x20′ and maintain a sterile environment.

For some of the smaller applications, the PAS 600HS series and the new HPS portable HEPA units are well suited. The newer HPS portables work well in the small clinic, research lab, out-patient surgery applications. And, like the larger PAS units, the HPS series uses a variable speed motor to provide volume control to meet the specific demand of the application.

Infection and the spread of airborne diseases is an ever growing problem. One has only to turn on the TV, read a newspaper or talk to a friend and see the issues surrounding he H1N1 flu challenges.

The health care industry is dealing with more sophisticated and deadly bacteria, viruses and other pathogens. The use of the HEPA filtration systems by Pure Air Systems makes tackling these issues a little easier and provides for a much safer environment for both the technician, doctors, nurses and patients.

For more information on the complete line of commercial grade HEPA systems go to: www.pureairsystems.com.

 

Getting Rid Of Household Odors

The colder weather is here and your home is now closed up all the time. You come home after work or after being out of the house for a while and you notice an odor that wasn’t there before or you didn’t notice until now.

Some odors come and go and often they are related to issues such as cooking,  paint or new carpet odors. These often dissipate within a few hours or sometimes days in the case of new carpeting.  But some odors linger and some stay around all the time.

Some of the most common, constant odors are generated by pets, musty basements, and odors generated from outside the home.

Pet odors are probably the most common and the most difficult to remove, reduce or cover up. Cats, for example, tend to spray and the odors are very difficult to remove. Dogs typically have a general doggy smell and this can get worse as the dog gets older.

Musty basements, especially in older homes, can be a significant problem and often this odor carries up into the first floor of the home. The musty odor is actually caused by mold in the basement ( often associated with damp basements) and when the mold spores it generates an odor, this odor is the musty smell.

Outside odors are often generated from farming processes or industrial manufacturing. Close proximity to major highways and heavily traveled roads can also be an issue. Wood burning fireplaces can be a significant problem especially in the winter months.

Removing or reducing any of these odors in the home is very challenging. Burning candles or spraying air fresheners is only slightly effective and is short lived. These remedies only mask the problem. The real issue is that these odors are constantly being generated and distributed throughout the house by the heating/cooling system. So an odor in the basement becomes an odor on the second floor.

Pure Air Systems has been providing a wide range of Carbon adsorption products since 1985. Carbon is the most affective and commonly used material for the removal and reduction of both organic and inorganic odors for the residential, commercial and institutional markets.

Pure Air Systems has a number of large carbon capacity filtration systems that are fan powered and can be attached to the existing HVAC system to remove the odor from the air as it passes through the HVAC unit. These units are also capable of introducing small amounts of outside air to help pressurize the home to minimize the entry of odors produced by outside sources.

For a very effective but less expensive remedy, Pure Air Systems has recently introduced a line of Odor Guard filters that replace that are used in place of the furnace filter. These polyester ring panel filters have a Merv 8 filter media on one side and commercial grade carbon media on the other side. They fit tightly and will last up to three months before they have to be replaced.

The use of carbon at the HVAC unit has proven to be the most effective method of removing odors and gases that are present in the home. For  more information on the carbon products available from Pure Air Systems go to our website at: www.pureairsystems.com.

HEPA Filtration For Your Laboratory

With the increasing number of medical, chemical and biological laboratories now operating in the US, it is more critical than ever to ensure both the safety of the lab personnel and the quality of the tests being performed.

With the drive to develop more and better drugs, chemicals and biological agents to compete in this global market, laboratories in the Pharmaceutical, governmental, educational and military sectors are using more sophisticated equipment along with more virulent, toxic and extremely dangerous pathogens for testing and product development.

While many of the more sophisticated and well funded operations use high end HEPA and ULPA filters to protect the technicians, many of the smaller laboratory operations use minimal ventilation and often no filtration systems or filters of any kind. This can and does lead to worker health problems as well as cross-contamination and expensive loss of product .

In the past, the cost of installing HEPA filter systems or HEPA ventilation systems was costly and took up valuable space. Today, Pure Air Systems offers a complete line of self-contained, fan-powered, commercial/hospital grade certified 99.99% at 0.3 micron systems ranging from small portables that produce as little as 150 CFM to large units with capacities up to 2000 CFM.

The new HPS series portable units have a four speed motor and can move from 150 to 500 CFM in a unit that is only 13″ square and 21″ long. These new high end portables  are engineered to be used in laboratory operations and in small, confined areas. The size, weight and variable volume controls allow this unit to be used in a wide variety of applications and the cost is less than $1,200.00.

For larger areas the 600, 1200 or 2000 series Pure Air Systems units can be applied. Each of these units comes with a Genteq ECM variable speed 120/240 volt 50/60 Hz motor with digital controller for volume control from 50 CFM to 2000 CFM in 1% increments. This fine tuning of HEPA filtered air is not available from any other HEPA filter manufacturer.

For more information go to www.pureairsysetms.com or contact Pure Air Systems directly at: 800-869-8025

H1N1 Capture

Like any airborne pathogen, the H1N1 virus is easily spread by contact from person to person in the air. While  it is always a challenge to keep from getting into contact with a carrier there are options available for reducing or removing the virus in small, enclosed areas.

The ability to remove the virus in say, a classroom or hospital ward is now possible with the use of the new commercial, hospital grade HPS series portable HEPA filtration units by Pure Air Systems.  These new high units (up to 500 cfm) can be placed anywhere in a room and provide from 3 to 10 air changes per hour. The new HPS units use a true, certified, scanned HEPA rated at 99.99% at 0.3 microns and smaller.

With the high incidence of H1N1 flu on college campuses and in the elementary schools, the use of HEPA filtration systems like the HPS series could help reduce the exposure of the flu to a number of students and individuals.

For more information on this HEPA unit and the other commercial HEPA systems offered by Pure Air Systems go to our website at: www.pureairsystems.com.