How Can Your Essa Purifier Help?

Airborne Pollutants In The Home Have Become A Major Health Hazard

The Environmental Protection Agency has found that our indoor air is '2-5 times more polluted than the worst outdoor air, and may even be 100 times more polluted.'

In the UK, we spend on average 80% of our lives indoors, and those groups at greatest risk from indoor air pollution (recent mothers, babies, the elderly or those with suppressed immune systems) are also those who spend most time indoors.

Many minute particles are suspended in our household atmosphere, regardless of the cleanliness of the house, and can act as triggers for allergic reactions, ranging from eye, nose and throat irritation to asthma and eczema.

Remove Indoor Air Pollutants From Your Home With An Essa Air Filter

The Essa Polarising Air Filter uses unique technology to clean indoor air to an unprecedented level. With polarised screens and removable high specification filters, it can remove pollutants as small as 0.01 micron. That is 1 millionth of a millimeter.

Cat & Dog Hairs & Skin Flakes : Pet Allergies

Minute particles of hairs and skin cells are shed from animals, and may remain in the air, due to their small particle size. These particles can lead to an allergic response in vulnerable individuals if they are inhaled or land on the membrane covering the eye. Allergic responses can vary, and can involve irritation of the eye, nose and throat and skin irritation (hives or eczema), and could be as serious as asthma. The Essa Polarising Air Filter can remove these potentially harmful particles from your indoor air.

Airborne Bird Dander

Bird dander is made up of fine particles from the feathers of birds, and can cause an allergic reaction in some people. Symptoms could include eye, nose and throat irritation, sneezing, coughing, hives or asthma attack. An Essa Polarising Air Filter removes these fine particles from your indoor air, and installing one is the single most effective step you can take in dealing with the problem of bird dander.

Airborne Dead Skin Cells

Human skin is constantly regenerating, and in the process a single person will shed billions of dead skin cells each day. About 80% of the visible airborne particles in a room (for example highlighted in a ray of sunshine) is comprised of dead skin cells. These dead skin cells contain bacteria, and can cause allergic reactions in some people.

House Dust Mite Faeces

The house dust mite (dermatophagoides pteronyssinus) is a microscopic creature that thrives in warm humid conditions, and feeds mainly on dead skin cells. House dust mites live in huge numbers in all homes, and are major contributors to indoor air pollution. The faeces from the house dust mite contains digestive enzymes and had been repeatedly shown to be a major trigger for both asthma and eczema.

As well as asthma and eczema, house dust mite faeces may trigger severe eye and nose irritation, sneezing, sinusitis, rhinitis, headaches, and hay fever-like symptoms in sensitive individuals. Muscular pain is another reported symptom.

House Dust / Atmospheric Dust

House dust is a term for minute biological contaminants commonly found in indoor environments. It can be made up of many different substances [see list below], and can cause breathing problems, eye, nose and throat irritations and can even induce asthma attacks in susceptible individuals.

Hydrocarbons

Hydrocarbons are organic compounds consisting of carbon and hydrogen, and make up some of the class of pollutants known as volatile organic compounds. Airborne hydrocarbon pollutants can cause eye, nose, throat and lung irritation, can lead to liver and kidney damage and have been linked to the development of cancer and genetic damage. Hydrocarbons are emitted from common household products such as aerosols, air fresheners and cleaning products (see volatile organic compounds below) and from burning wood, cigarette smoke and cooking.

Fungal Spores / Mould Spores

Mould is a major type of fungus. Fungi are extremely common, and spread by releasing microscopic 'seeds' or spores into the atmosphere. It is inhalation of these spores rather than the fungi themselves that poses health risks [1]. Potential health risks can be:

1. Allergenic : Fungal spores can be powerful triggers for asthma, and other allergic reactions.
2. Toxic : Certain fungi release toxins in their spores (mycotoxins) which have a harmful effect on health.
3. Infectious: when fungal spores start to grow on or in a person - not commonly associated with airborne spores, although infection is more likely in individuals with compromised immune systems.

The breakdown of organic matter by mould is essential for the house dust mite to feed, and so by removing mould spores from the air with an Essa Polarising Air Filter, you will also be removing a food source for the house dust mite, an major contributor to indoor air pollution.

Paint Fumes : Harmful Air Pollutants

Solvent based paints can release high levels of volatile organic compounds when freshly applied, and for days afterwards. Even when paint is dry, it will continue to emit volatile organic compounds. EU legislation requires paints to bear a label identifying its constituent levels of volatile organic compounds, and some VOC-free paints are now available.

Pollen & Hay Fever

Hay fever is an allergic reaction to pollen and fungal spores and is an increasingly common allergy, affecting approximately 20% of the population in the UK [1]. Tiny particles of pollen and/or spores are inhaled, and cause the immune system to generate antibodies and histamine. Histamine then irritates upper respiratory tract, leading to sneezing, itching and watery eyes, headaches, runny nose, throat irritation. Pollen / spore allergy can also trigger an asthma attack, and has been linked to the development of rhinosinusitis and conjunctivitis, especially in children.

Radioactive Toxin Emitted From The Earth

Radon is an extremely toxic colourless radioactive gas that is a known to cause lung cancer (smokers are thought to be especially at risk). Radon is produced by the radioactive decay of uranium naturally present in the earth, and is present in small quantities in outdoor air. In indoor air, radon can be found in much higher concentrations, especially in modern energy efficient homes.

Radon gas radioactively decays into radioactive elements (polonium-218 and polonium-214), which are very damaging to lung tissue - when inhaled they expose the lungs to alpha radiation, and encourage the growth of cancer. The Essa Polarising Air Filter is efficient at removing radon from your indoor air.

Smoke Fumes From Cooking And Burning Fuels

Both frying and grilling food can release potentially harmful toxins into your indoor air, as can burning fuels such as wood and coal. Both of these activities release Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) into the air that you breathe (see hydrocarbons), along with a number of other toxins. The Essa Polarising Air Filter is effective at removing these pollutants from your indoor air.

Tobacco Smoke Fumes - At Home Or At Work

Tobacco smoke contains a massive number of chemicals that are harmful to humans. Inhalation of tobacco smoke increases the risk of strokes or developing heart disease or cancer. If you choose to smoke, or you run a business and want to protect your staff or the public from the harmful effects of tobacco smoke, you need an Essa Polarising Air Filter.

The world health organisation have identified environmental tobacco smoke as a 'real and substantial threat to child health'. Tobacco smoke contains various hazardous volatile organic chemicals including toluene, 1,3 butadiene, PAH compounds and benzene.

New Research - Essa Air Cleaners And Environmental Tobacco Smoke

A recent study by the Department of Environmental & Geographical Sciences at the Manchester Metropolitan University was commissioned by ESSA EU. It concludes that Essa air cleaners installed in a smoky pub (the Royal Oak, Cannock) made a positive and significant impact upon the air quality in the pub: ' The use of air cleaners made a considerable positive impact on air quality in the pub. ' To view the full report, click here.

Volatile Organic Compounds - The New Pollution.

Volatile organic compounds are organic compounds that easily vapourise at room temperature, and are found in high concentrations in indoor air (indoor air is polluted with 2-5 times more organic compounds than outdoor air)

There are many different types of volatile organic compound, and they can have negative health effects ranging from eye, nose, throat and lung irritation to depression and cancer. Recent studies have highlighted the impact on mothers and young children.

Volatile organic compounds are released from a huge number of sources, including cleaning products, aerosol sprays. air fresheners, paints, solvents, adhesives, air fresheners, furniture, fabrics and building materials, as well as office equipment such as photocopiers and printers.

VOCs - Mothers & Babies

With an established link between air fresheners & aerosol sprays and high levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), the children of he 90s study concluded that volatile organic compounds can make mothers and babies ill. Mothers suffered significantly higher levels of headaches and depression, and babies suffered significantly higher levels of diarrhoea, earache and other symptoms as a result of exposure to higher levels of volatile organic compounds.