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Personal Air Purifiers and Safety/Effectiveness

MAC & Bronchiectasis | Last Active: Mar 31 5:50am | Replies (29)
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@phoenixrises

Thanks everyone for your thoughts. I was hoping someone in the forum had experience with a "personal" air purifier that you wear around your neck - like AirTamer's - whether they were effective for protecting one's health or caused lung problems and/or what your doctors had to say about it. A health environmental consultant we are working with felt that AirTamer's ozone emission (4 parts per billion which is 10 times lower than the EPA’s recommended 50 parts per billion limit on ozone for electronic equipment and FDA's limit for medical devices) would quickly breakdown due to its instability and should not be a health threat. However, it sounds like any purifier that is a negative ionizer is a 'no no' due to ozone emission (however small). Disappointing because I thought it might be an effective way to try to venture out of my house or go to someone else's house and still have protection (along with wearing a mask).

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Replies to "Thanks everyone for your thoughts. I was hoping someone in the forum had experience with a..."
irene5 Irene Estes | @irene5 | Oct 12, 2020

@phoenixrises I think the personal air purifiers are ok in theory and in lab situations for research data, but in the real world are, perhaps, not as good as their advertising and certainly not without issues for the user. My rule of thumb has always been, “When in doubt - don’t!” irene5

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Sue, Volunteer Mentor | @sueinmn | Oct 12, 2020

Maybe I am in the minority here, but I feel like going out of my house, if I practice good hand hygiene, wear a mask, socially distance and behave responsibly, is a minimal risk.

I have asthma, bronchiectasis, and other health issues, have a husband with several health risks, and we are both in the higher risk category due to our ages. We have remained safe using the above practices through many activities since March including overnight travel, surgery OT/PT & doctor visits, daily walks, even outdoor restaurant meals.

We have 10 other people in our "Covid Bubble" - our daughters, son-in-law, 2 grandchildren and 5 close friends. I really believe the key to staying safe but not alone include finding a small like-minded circle of people taking the precautions, having everyone stay home if they even suspect they or someone in the house is ill, handling masks properly & washing them often. Even my little grandsons willingly wear masks if it means they can be with Grandma, Bompa & Auntie.

With friends, we mainly gather outdoors, if we are not apart or venture inside, we wear our masks. We have group meals, but stretch our tables to their limits or eat in little "pods" with TV trays, put masks on after eating. I even managed 2 months of "Grandma daycare" without any illness.

We gather cautiously outdoors with anyone outside our bubble, masked & staying at safe distance and have managed a wide variety of activities. I also quickly walk away from any place of business where I feel mask wearing, distancing, and cleaning are not diligently practiced - sadly that means I can't go to my favorite hardware, grocery or drug stores right now and have had to find alternates.

Just remember that the greatest risks of contracting Covid are droplets from breathing, which become more concentrated in smaller (indoor) spaces and with more people. Going outdoors has not been shown to pose any risk unless you have close contact with other people.

Sue

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