Purifan HEPA Air Cleaners Are Not a Substitute for Mold Removal

[Guest guest]

I've received some interesting feedback on my post about Purifans

being used to protect occupants while a more expensive and time

consuming mold removal procedure is planned, funded and executed.

In the high school example I cited, a $50,000 mold remediation had

been completed, but mold counts in classrooms still exceeded 13

times outdoor levels. Missed school days and other health problems

like recurring respiratory infections had everyone demanding the

school be shut down. The option of finding a new temporary facility

from January to May for 700 students and teachers was impossible.

And replacing the entire HVAC system and ducting while class was

going on, was impossible. So even after a mold remediation was

complete billions of mold spores were hiding all over the building,

and the occupants continued to get sick. What the Purifans do is

aggressively filter out anything floating in the air. And the

benefit is people feel better because the air has substantially

fewer allergens. I never intended my comments to mean an air

filtration system is a substitute for mold source elimination or

containment, it is just a way to help occupants who " have no

alternative " but to be there. The recommendation to use Purifans

was to allow occupants to breathe cleaner air while they are in the

building.

During the summer break, the high school spent $550,000 to replace

the HVAC and ducting, but from January to May, the Purifans stopped

recurring problem with the illnesses and missed days due to sickness

for both students and teachers. The Purifans protected the occupants

until the final solution could be implemented. All I am proposing,

is that even after mold removal, the occupants might do much better

if a high-capacity HEPA system is used to capture as much of the

remaining spores and other allergens as possible. The Purifan with

the right motor will filter 5,000 CFM. That capacity can filter all

the air in a classroom 40 times per hour, the particle counts drop

dramatically. Plus the Purifan is totally quiet, a requirement for

classrooms, offices and bedrooms. And the ceiling fan location

gives the optimum whole room airflow pattern that moves all the

airborne particles to the filtration system.

I've used Purifans in call center rooms with 25 to 30 people sharing

the same air, and they've been used in homeless shelters where

hundreds sleep in cots, sharing the same air. In the homeless

shelter, during the 12 months prior to intstalling Purifans, 21

cases of TB were traced to the shelter, in the 12 months after, 0

cases were reported. Each case of TB cost the state over $100,000

in medical costs. The airbrne particle counts in all shelters are

very high, because the guests are street people and are very dirty.

These larger airborne floating particles are little " taxicabs "

taking the virus laden droplets from sneezes and coughs up the

surrounding peoples nose. Eliminating the large floating particles

helps stop the spread of particle droplet nucleai in these tight

sleeping and eating quarters typical in a Salvation Army Shelter.

So in a shelter, eliminating the real source of the particles would

be eliminating the street people. Testing in another shelter showed

particle counts dropped by over 90% in the first 10 minutes after

the 18 newly installed Purifans were turned on. This showed the

health experts how a high-capacity Purifan air filtration system can

quickly clean up the indoor air and remove particles, no matter what

the source.

I install Purifans in school classroom and business offices, and

many of the buildings have had a past mold issue, but we measure the

primary sources of allergens, as the students or occupants

themselves. Particle counts jump 10 fold or more when the students

or workers arrive in the room. Much of this increase is " stirred

up " particles that were resting on surfaces and floors, but all of

these allergen particles probably arrived by being carried into the

building on clothes, hair and skin. The source is Mother Nature's

outdoor mold and pollen, shedding skin cells and pet dander carried

into the rooms by the occupants. Eliminating the source would

require eliminating the students or office workers. The Purifans

quickly knock down the airborne particle counts, and the benefits

include the occupants feel better, report fewer allergy-like

symptoms and have fewer respiratory illnesses and infections. I've

had teachers tell me they were spending $150 to $170 per month on

doctor's visits, allergy shots, various types of medicine and still

missed a lot of work days. After the Purifans are up, in one or two

days, teacher's have told me the feel so much better, that the carry

their allergy pill in their pocket, just in case they need it. They

can feel an immediate improvement in their respiratory tract when

the get to their Purifan equipped classroom. Activities outside,

such as playgound duty, start their eyes watering and nose itching,

but within 10 minutes back in their classroom, they feel clear

again. During peak allergy season, we have had people say their

sinuses openned up for the first time in weeks, after just 30

minutes in a Purifan equipped room.

Purifans are a unique tool in helping improve the air quality and

health of the occupants. They use very little electricity, are very

quiet, have low filter costs, and the air-flow pattern has HVAC

energy saving benefits for larger rooms and classrooms. The science

of high and low air pressure means that the air rushing out of any

HEPA air cleaing system is immediately going to seek to find the low

pressure, or suction point on the air cleaner. That is why floor

models sitting in the corner of a room, just create a small " out the

front, in the back " airflow pattern that does little to help the

entire room. The ceilng fan mounted Purifan actually slings the air

from the Purifan location toward the walls at 1,000 to 2,500 feet

per minute velocity, where the airflow pattern starts seeking the

low pressure point in the room directly under the Purifan. The air

is forced down the walls, across the floor back to the center of the

room right below the Purifan and is agressively sucked back through

the filters every 90 seconds or so. This whole room air flow

pattern is a big reason the Purifans are so effective in capturing

the mold and all other airborne allergens.

There are many situations with poor IAQ in larger rooms, or just

ordinary apartments and bedrooms, where occupants have no

alternative but to be in that room everyday. The problem can be

allergens from any source making the occupants sick, the solution

can be a combination of finding the source, removing or containing

it, increasing ventilation rates, AND trying to filter the particles

out of the air. Most HEPA floor models can't do enough to make any

real difference over the entire room, but a high capacity system

like the Purifan can be a good, low-cost tool to help protect the

occupants and make them feel better quickly, while other issues are

being handled, assuming there is a known source, such as mold that

can be cleaned up or eliminated.

We find many applications every day where there is no known source

or active mold, but the air quality can be substantially improved by

filtering out any airborne allergens that are being generated from

common sources.

In printing offices it is paper dust, in sewing facilities, it is

fabric particles and in pet stores it is animal odors. In hotel

rooms and bars it is cigarette smoke and residual odors. In nursing

homes it is urine odor, cleaning supplies and particles and odors

that are produced by the old people. In call centers and classrooms

it is particles and odors we call " people stew " . In bedrooms it is

skin cells, pet dander and dust mite allergens. In all these

examples, cleaning the air is the ONLY option since you can't

eliminate the source of these particles.

For more information see www.purifan.com for more information, or

contact me at stan@.... We are seeking local dealers in

most locations.