Air Purifier News

Purifiers, filters help clear air of secondhand smoke

The ordinance passed by the City Council on Jan. 23 banning smoking at most Fort Wayne businesses is intended to protect the public from the hazards of secondhand smoke, sometimes referred to as passive or environmental smoke.

The pollutants in smoke are in two forms: particles that form the visible haze in the air and unseen gases. Both forms can be hazardous.

Secondhand smoke is a combination of the smoke emitted from the end of a lit cigarette, cigar or pipe (known as sidestream smoke) and smoke exhaled by a smoker (called mainstream smoke). According to the National Toxicology Program, sidestream smoke alone contains more than 250 toxic or carcinogenic chemicals.

In 2006, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that non-smokers living or working with a smoker were 25 percent to 30 percent more likely to suffer from coronary heart disease than those in a completely smoke-free environment. Similarly, the probability of a nonsmoker falling victim to lung cancer rose by 20 percent to 30 percent if he was living or working with a smoker.

Current technology can help reduce these hazards, but unfortunately no air purification or ventilation system can fully protect non-smokers from the dangers of secondhand smoke.

General ventilation systems are unable to remove smoke from a room sufficiently quickly before it can be inhaled by those in the area.

Ozone systems have been used for generations to purify the air. A corona discharge is used in these purifiers to create ozone that can eliminate bacteria, viruses and other organisms in the air. However, if the ozone is inhaled before it interacts with the pollutants, it can cause irreversible damage to tissue.

Filter and electrostatic air-purification systems can substantially eliminate the visible smoke particles, but the dangerous gases remain in the air. For example, purifiers with medical grade HEPA (high efficiency particulate accumulation) filters are used to maintain the air quality in laboratory “clean rooms” and hospitals because they are able to remove 99.97 percent of bacteria, dust mites, mold spores and other pollutants larger than 0.3 microns in size. However, about 90 percent of the most dangerous particulates in the air are smaller than 0.3 microns.

Electrostatic purifiers remove the visible smoke from the air by negatively charging each particle, which is then attracted to a metal surface.

Ultraviolet light systems sterilize biological pollutants in the air but only if these organisms are amply exposed to the light.

Activated carbon systems are able to remove gas particles that are 0.001 microns in size or even smaller. The carbon is heated and treated to create millions of tiny pores on its surface that are then able to absorb gas molecules coming into contact with the surface. However, the time required to remove all hazardous substances from the air may be insufficient to protect a person from inhaling these particulates.

Establishing smoke-free environments is the only certain method for eliminating all of the hazards associated with secondhand smoke.