Several air cleaners are available to consumers to clean the air in their homes.  Indoor air can be tainted by dust, chemicals, mold, and even the radioactive gas known as radon—and all these pollutants can be detrimental to your health.  Although the EPA does not endorse or evaluate specific air cleaners, they have provided a list of types of air cleaners on their web site.

Mechanical filters are the most common and consist of pleated or flat filters.  Flat filters tend to catch only larger particles and don’t filter out much of the smaller particles that we tend to breath in.  Pleated filters catch more contaminants because they have denser fibers so they are able to catch smaller particles at the cost of reduced air flow.

Another type of cleaner is of an electric nature.  Electric air cleaners use electrical field to help capture oppositely charged particles.  These types of cleaners can be in portable devices or attached to a central air/heating system.

Some electronic air cleaners and ion generators have been known to produce ozone, which the EPA says can be harmful to our lungs.  Careful consideration should be taken when choosing these types of cleaners.  More information on the dangers of ozone can be found on the EPA’s web site.