Although many can benefit from a good air purifier, since most of us are exposed to both indoor and outdoor air that is polluted, if you have children, or are elderly, have asthma or other respiratory problems, allergies, cardiovascular disease or chemical sensitivities, you will especially benefits from breathing cleaner air in your home. However, selecting a good air purifier is not easy.

There are vast differences in air purifiers based on what types of irritants they clean, how efficient they are, how noisy they are and more. There are two basic categories of indoor air pollutants that air purifiers are designed to clean: particulate pollutants and gaseous pollutants.

Particulate pollutants can cause problems when they are smaller than 10 microns in diameter in particular because they can be easily inhaled into the lungs. The smallest of these tend to either get stuck in the lungs where they can remain for years or get absorbed into the bloodstream. The EPA has long recognized that fine particulate matter from smog and forest fires can be a serious health problem, exacerbating cardiovascular and respiratory problems and causing premature death. Numerous studies have associated particle pollution with increased hospital admissions, reduced lung function, shortened life spans, cancer and increased school absences. Most severely affected are children, the elderly, those with asthma and other respiratory problems, and those with cardiovascular disease.

Gaseous pollutants come from things like unvented gas cooking and heating appliances, cigarette smoking, vehicle exhaust, out gassing from furnishings and building materials like particle board & plywood, personal care items, cleaning products and paints and varnishes. Although paints and varnishes usually outgas fairly quickly, chemicals from furnishings like couches and mattresses, particle board and carpets can outgas for years. If you have a problem with gaseous pollutants because you have chemical sensitivities, asthma, or a new or recently remodeled home, you need an air filter that does a good job of removing these gases. If you can afford the additional expense, an air purifier that filters out gaseous pollutants and chemicals is probably good for all of us unless we have a perfectly "green" home, since we are all exposed to far too many chemicals today.

Small Air Cleaners

Very small air cleaners are simply not effective in eliminating pollen and dust. They also are not made to clean fine particulate matter or gaseous materials.

Electronic Air Cleaners and Ion & Ozone Generators

According to the EPA, electronic air cleaners and ion generators use an electronic charge to remove airborne particles. These devices may also produce ozone, which is a lung irritant. The EPA has specifically said that ozone generators are ineffective and a potential health hazard.

HEPA (Mechanical) Air Filters

High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters are used in industrial and medical clean rooms, and are increasingly used in residential air cleaners, as they are extremely effective in removing particulate matter, such as pollen and particulates from smog and forest fires. These filters are only "true" HEPA if they remove at least 99.97% of all particles larger than 3.0 microns. If the filter you are looking at calls itself "HEPA-type", it may not be true HEPA. Always ask if you're not sure.

Some air cleaners remove gaseous pollutants along with particles if they have some other special material in addition to HEPA-type filters. Often this is accomplished with activated carbon.

Top Rated Air Cleaner: IQ Air

In our opinion, one of the best brands of air purifiers is IQ Air. It is the top rated air cleaner according to Test (Stiftung Warentest), the prestigious German government funded testing agency. In fact, in their comparison of 10 air purifiers, IQ Air was found to remove airborne dust particles twice as quickly as the next best device. IQ Air is especially good at removing fine particulate matter from the air, which can be especially helpful to allergy or asthma sufferers. In addition, the IQ Air HealthPro and HealthPro Plus models will achieve at least 99.5% efficiency on particles of 0.16 micron and smaller. This is very important as these are the sizes that tend to lodge in the lungs. They also make a model that takes out gaseous pollutants as well.

In conclusion, it is important to decide if you need to have an air purifier that removes gaseous pollutants and well as particulate pollutants. The best type of particulate pollutant remover is a true HEPA filter. There are many brands out there, but none as highly rated as the IQ Air, made in Switzerland.