Originally Posted on: The Air We Breathe… Dr. Leonard Coldwell.com.
While you are working and sleeping, your body is battling the air we breathe! Filled with contaminants like dust, dander, mold spores, and tons of chemical gases from our environment, our bodies are not working to our greatest potential nor resting comfortably to help us prepare for tomorrow, they are fighting a losing battle over poor air quality. No matter how “clean” you may think your home is, it is filled with an army of toxins. And the newer your home or furnishing, the more toxins you will find! Our immune systems are spending energy combatting these toxins instead of repairing and rebalancing our bodies. It is the equivalent to tying your immune system “hands” behind your back and expecting to be productive. Research shows numerous health conditions are linked to poor air quality like allergies, asthma, chemical sensitivities, bronchitis, fatigue, even heart attacks to name a few!
What Type of Filtration Work Best?
You’ve probably heard of a HEPA filter before. There are tons of them on the market and they are reported to be one of the best types of filters available. So what is a HEPA filter? HEPA stands for High-Efficiency Particle Arresting and was developed by the US Atomic Energy Commission in the 1940s. A medical HEPA filter removes 99.97% of all airborne particles greater than 0.3 microns. (Just to give you an idea, a human hair is 300 times too large to fit through a HEPA filter.) That sounds like an amazing filter given the diameter of a piece of hair, but HEPA is not enough to clean the air of the toxins we face today.
In order to filter the toxins out of the air more efficiently, including those smaller than 0.3 microns, there are a few other filtration products that are great additions to a HEPA filter. Activated carbon and Zeolite are fabulous filtration products. Carbon and Zeolite naturally have great absorption properties; specifically, for absorbing gasses, odors, and chemicals. Activated carbon is the prominent material used in gas masks. What is activated carbon? For our purposes, we are talking about carbon that has been activated by subjecting the carbon to a two-stage steaming process. “Activating” carbon enlarges the surface pore size, allowing it to absorb more gasses, odors, and chemicals.
Zeolite is a natural mineral that is excellent at absorbing gas molecules, including gasses like formaldehyde, ammonia, and carbon monoxide. Formaldehyde specifically is found in building materials and fabrics like carpets, wood products, and furniture. There are also many synthetic zeolites being manufactured as well and many are not safe. For example, erionite zeolite is similar in genetics to asbestos and has respiratory safety concerns as well. The zeolite used in the filters we found superior is a non-fibrous, all-natural compound found in volcanic rock called clinoptilolite.
One more filter is worth mentioning called HEGA which stands for High-Efficiency Gas Absorption. This filtration medium has been applied as a military carbon cloth material in the filter we recommend. The Institute of Environmental Science, a HEGA filter must be at least 99.9% effective in removing gasses, chemicals, and odors. It must also remove such particles as dust, pollen, mold spores, bacteria, and pet dander in order to be classified as HEGA filter.
When you combine these filtration systems you wind up with a truly amazing air filter, capable of removing a remarkable amount of toxins, including over 3,000 gasses. Wrapped in a cotton pre-filter to trap large particles and to extend the life of the main filter, one company stands above all others in providing air filters that actually clean the air and remove the multitude of toxins our bodies work hard to combat…Austin Air. While there are many air purifier products on the market to reduce the toxins in the air, none compare to the air filters by Austin Air. The company was formed when the founder’s wife had such horrible breathing problems that her only relief was when she was admitted to a “clean room” at the hospital. Since then, the founder set out to find a solution so his wife could breathe without worry in her own home. These remarkable air filters are extremely effective and thoroughly researched. Austin Air filters are not only above the rest in filtration, but when compared to the other products available and all the replacement filters and parts, they are also the most economical as well. It’s as simple as replacing one filter every 5 years! That’s it! This filter is easy to replace and requires no maintenance. The filters also clean the air from all sides simultaneously, that’s 360 degrees! Simply take your vacuum and attach the brush/upholstery brush to it and vacuum the outside of the unit about once a month.
But Austin Air would not go to such lengths to create a filter that works so hard to filter out toxins and then coat their own products with toxins that make it worse. Austin Air’s products are made of steel and have a powder coat paint that they bake on so no off-gassing is present compared to spray painting or plastics. These filters create a clean air pocket that, in most bedrooms, can clean the air in less than 15 minutes! They are not only efficient in removing toxins, but are energy efficient as well. Costing only about a penny an hour to run, the average electric cost to run the unit non-stop is roughly $10 a month! Their products come with a 5-year parts and labor guarantee and a 5-year pro-rated filter guarantee.
Which Filter is Best for Me?
Austin Air offers a couple different filters, most in two sizes. My favorite is the Bedroom Machine. This model filters areas up to 1,500 square feet and uses a 5-stage filtration process including 15 lbs. of carbon and zeolite mix, military carbon cloth, HEPA, and HEGA. This unit is recommended for allergies, asthma, odors, gasses, chemicals, including particles down to the nano size. My second favorite unit is the HealthMate Plus. This unit is recommended for the same issues as the Bedroom Machine, but is best for those with chemical sensitivity. The HealthMate Plus unit comes in two sizes standard, which cleans up to 1,500 square feet, and junior, which cleans up to 700 square feet. There is a ton of information on the different units on our website www.bestpinksalt.com. Don’t hesitate to contact us should you want help selecting what unit is best for you.
Visit www.bestpinksalt.com for you Austin Air filter today!
Originally Posted on: The Air We Breathe… Dr. Leonard Coldwell.com.