Many air purifiers implement the use of activated carbon. This enables the air purifier to better remove odors from the air.

Many of the air purifiers that employ activated carbon filters are used in areas where exhaust fumes are prevalent, such as airport hangers, auto repair shops, and painting shops.

Activated carbon is a commonly thrown around term in the world of air purifiers, but many might not know exactly what this means.

Purification of Air and Liquids

Activated carbon is used in air and liquid purification. An example of air purification would be a typical home-use air purifier. An example of liquid purification would be a filter on a fish tank that uses activated carbon to clean impurities from the water.

Activated carbon is manufactured from a variety of sources. The most common sources are coal, wood, lignite, and coconut shells. The process of creating the activated carbon includes first carbonizing the raw material at low temperatures, and then activating the carbon in a high temperature steam process.

How Does Activate Carbon Work?

Activated carbon can be viewed as a sponge for gases. The more carbon that an air filter has inside of it, the more gases (and odors) it can soak up. Through a physical and chemical process, any gases and odors in the air will adhere to the carbon’s surface, thus removing them from the air as air passed through the carbon filter.

Activated carbon has a slight electro-positive charge added to it, making it even more attractive to chemicals and impurities. As air or water passes over the positively charged carbon surface, the negative ions of the contaminants are drawn to the surface of the carbon granules. That’s pretty much how it works.

What is Activated Carbon Good For?

An activated carbon filter in side of an air purification system will battle all of the odors and smells inside of the room that the air purifier is running in.

If you smoke cigarettes in your home, activated carbon will help remove the odor of cigarette smoke. If you cook very aromatic foods or fried foods, activated carbon will clear the air of the cooking smells. If you have pet odors, activated carbon will help battle down the pet odors.

You get the idea.

Using Activated Carbon

Now that you know what activated carbon is, you will be better educated when looking at the different models of air purifiers that might fit your situation. If you want to combat odors as well as air particles and contaminants, you should definitely find an air purifier that employs an activated carbon filter in addition to a HEPA filter or other similar air particle filter.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ranks indoor air pollution as one of the top five environmental risks to public health, wow! Indoor air pollution can sometimes be two to five times higher – and some of the time more than a hundred times as high – than outside air pollution levels. Poor indoor air quality is one of the top five risks to better health.

One of the best ways to improve the indoor air quality is the use of an air purifier with a HEPA Filter.

What is a HEPA Filter?

HEPA filters are an effective way to capture particulates of smoke, dust, asbestos, actinolite, bacteria and other pathogens, radioactive dust and mold spores. HEPA filters are designed to trap pollutants and particles by trapping or sticking these elements to the filter fibers.

HEPA filters are best for people with allergies and asthma because they offer the fastest way to remove airborne particulate from the air. Many people with allergies have a freestanding HEPA filter in the bedroom, a HEPA filter-equipped vacuum or both.

HEPA filters remove contaminants and purify air

HEPA filters are also used in other places such as hospitals and manufacturing rooms where clean air is absolutely vital important to the well being of the location and people within it.

HEPA filters are critical in the prevention of the spread of airborne bacterial and viral organisms and, therefore, infection. Typically, medical-use HEPA filtration systems also incorporate high-energy ultra-violet light units to kill off the live bacteria and viruses trapped by the filter media. HEPA filters are the only way to remove these types of contaminants.

Definition of a HEPA Filter

True HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filters are those that are regulated by the Institute of Environmental Science as filters that capture 99.97% of air contaminants at the 0.3 micron size.

HEPA filters are usually of multiple pleated construction. The nature and relationship of the pleats may vary but the filters are commonly comparatively bulky and of generally box-like form. Air purifiers that use HEPA filters will vary in the size and construction of the HEPA filter that is actually used in the unit.

Filtering odors

A HEPA filter usually won’t combat odors as effectively as it will filter fine particles out of the air. For this reason, if you wish to filter odors as well as particles out of the air you will want to find an air purifier that also employs activated carbon to filter odors along with a HEPA filter to filter out the particles.

Activated carbon is the most effective type of filter against chemicals and odors. (dust, pollen, dust mites, dander, mold spores, asbestos fibers, droplets, etc.).

In conclusion

The HEPA filter is the best type of filter available to keep air clean. If you are going to buy an air purifier for use in your home, consider the air purifiers that use HEPA filters to be the best option available.