In recent times, indoor air quality has deteriorated and is a major cause for emerging health problems. Health problems such as asthma and hay fever are more and more prevalent these days as a direct consequence of poor indoor air quality. Environmental agencies have even warned that indoor air quality is usually 2 to 10 times worse than outdoor pollution. As a result, portable air purifiers have been introduced and are increasingly used in cars, homes, and offices to elevate air quality. Some portable purifiers include the Hamilton Beach 04163, TrueAir HEPA Air Purifier, Ionic Pro Ionic Air Purifier, and Sharp FP-N60CX Plasma Cluster Air Purifier.

Basically, all air purifiers function by trapping smoke, pollen, dust, animal dander, dust mites, mold spores, chemical fumes, bacteria, viruses, and odours within the filters, thereby cleaning the air. Some portable air purifiers are even equipped with UV germicidal light to kill microorganisms in the air. Usually, there are three or four fan speeds to circulate air through the air purifier to be filtered and purified, depending on the level of air quality. A number of air purifiers have sensors that adjust the fan speed automatically by detecting the amount of particles trapped in the filters. In addition, some special air purifiers even have timers that can be set up to eight hours in total.

Generally, the filters are easily cleaned. Most of the time, the filter may just be cleaned with a vacuum cleaner or hand washed with the cleaning process repeated once every six to eight months. However, for portable air purifiers that are used in automatic mode 24 hours a day, then the filter may need to be cleaned more regularly, probably once every two to three months with lukewarm water solution combined with mild detergent.

In summary, ‘Prevention is better than cure’. Get a portable air purifier for yourself and avoid the risk of getting respiratory health problems linked to low indoor air quality!