Studies have been conducted on how hazardous airborne particulates can actually be to vehicle occupants. The result shows that women, especially post-menopausal women, are at a higher risk of suffering ill effects from these minute particles in the air we breathe. And since Americans spend more and more time in and about their cars, it is imperative to keep the air inside the vehicle clean so as not to endanger the health of its occupants.
Since the air inside a car contains up to six times the concentration of airborne particulates compared to the air outside it, a cabin air filter is very important. In connection with the needs for such devices, the Filtration Division of Freudenberg Nonwovens has developed the micronAir cabin air filter.
The micronAir filter is an aftermarket product just like a component. It protects the occupants of a vehicle from airborne particulate which was revealed to be one of the causes of heart and lung disease. The product removes particles in the air that enters a car's cabin and the list of these particulate foreign matter include pollens, spores, exhaust fumes, bacteria, road dust, soot, industrial dust, and smog. All of these are harmful to a person's health especially when inhaled in large quantities. The use of this device protects those with asthma or any other respiratory problems from getting ill than they already are.
Barry F. Kellar, the Vice-President and General Manager of Freudenberg Nonwovens Filtration Division, issued this statement: "By preventing contaminants from entering a vehicle's cabin, a micronAir cabin air filter helps to maintain the health of passengers, especially women and people with allergies, asthma, and other upper-respiratory ailments. With people spending an increasing amount of time in their vehicles, the presence of a functional cabin air filter becomes even more important."
Awareness among American motorists though is limited. According to Kellar, many motorists are not aware that cabin air filters are integrated onto their cars. Those who know that their car is equipped with cabin air filter sometimes do not know that these components should be replaced every year or after 10,000 miles, whichever comes first. The replacement of these cabin air filters is needed to ensure that the filter can efficiently keep the entrance of airborne particles inside the car in check.
The micronAir cabin air filter is designed to trap dust, pollens, bacteria, and soot particles with its particle filters. Those particles are as small as .5 microns. They may be that small but they surely do pack quite a huge amount of power that could make us all ill. The micronAir also has combi-filters with a layer of activated carbon that traps in these particles. This carbon layer in turn captures smog, exhaust gases, and fumes. These particles are much smaller in size; only .01 microns or about 1/500th the width of a human hair.
The advancement in this field will be very much welcomed by the public. In a recent study that was conducted by Dohring Co., they found out that about 95 percent of their respondents are concerned about the quality of air entering their vehicles cabin. Of the total number of respondents, 91 percent said that they would want cabin air filters to be standard equipment on vehicles being mass produced by different car manufacturers. 83 percent of the respondents stated that they would want their next vehicle to come with a cabin air filter. Among the respondents of the study, 85 percent said that they are concerned about the ill effects of exhaust gases and vapors while almost half of the total number of respondents said that they are concerned about pollens, allergens, germs, dust particles, odors, and smog. The importance of cabin air filters on vehicles is the fact that 67 percent of the respondents in the study said that they are suffering from allergies and/or respiratory problems or living with someone who does.
