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New Study Finds Air Cleaning Devices Ineffective Against Hazardous Pollutants [07/08-2]
Excerpts from: Study finds air cleaners ineffective against hazardous pollutants
By
WILLIAM KATES Newsday [07/07/04]
Room air cleaning devices now on the market are ineffective at removing cancer-causing chemical pollutants, according to a study by Syracuse University scientists.
Researchers tested 15 different air cleaners that advertised they removed chemical pollutants and found there was no single "silver bullet" air-cleaning device that effectively removed all volatile organic compounds, or VOCs.
In most instances, the scientists said, the devices were ineffective against any of the 16 chemicals they tested, including formaldehyde and toluene, both of which are found in many common household products.
Researchers assessed four different methods used to cleanse the air and concluded "each technology has fundamental chemical and physical processes that determine its effectiveness at removing specific VOCs."
"This was not a Consumer Reports-type study where we were out to rate individual devices. We approached it wanting to know how well they performed as a class of technology," said Edward Bogucz, executive director of the Syracuse Center for Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems that helped direct the study.
There are no established standard procedures for testing the performance of air cleaners for removal of VOCs, so any manufacturer making such a claim would be misleading the consumer, she said.
Twelve of the tested cleaners were portable units and three were centralized in-duct systems. Two of the 15 devices were prototype systems, including a botanical air cleaner that used live plants as a filter.
The other technologies studied were sorption filtration, which uses activated carbon filters; ultraviolet-photocatalytic oxidation; ozone oxidation; and air ionization.
Because there are no existing testing standards, Syracuse scientists designed a test protocol using a "cocktail" of 16 chemicals. Zhang said the study could provide the groundwork for establishing test procedures for evaluating the effectiveness of air cleaners' ability to remove VOCs from the air.
The chemicals were introduced into a room-sized stainless-steel chamber. The levels of each contaminant were measured over a 12-hour period as each cleaning device was tested individually.
VOCs are widely used as ingredients in many common household items: paints, wood preservatives, aerosol sprays, air fresheners, cleansers, automotive products, building materials and cosmetics.
Studies have found that levels of some organic chemicals average two to five times higher indoors than outdoors, and in some instances can be as much as 1,000 times greater, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Many VOCs, which are emitted as gases, pose short- and long-term adverse health effects, and are listed as hazardous air pollutants by the EPA.
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