Why HEPA Air Purifiers Are Good for Your Babies
As a parent, you want the utmost protection and comfort for your baby, whether they are sleeping or playing. One of the most exciting times in any parent’s life is setting up a nursery. You are undoubtedly in a frenzy of shopping for necessities for the room, such as a crib, changing table, rocking chair and decorations as your newborn’s delivery date approaches.
While most of these items are crucial in a baby’s room, one question pops up repeatedly for many new parents. Should I get an air purifier for my precious little one?
If this question has crossed your mind, you came to the right place. Read on to know more about the safety of air purifiers for babies, their benefits and how to find the best unit for your newborn.
What Are the Benefits of an Air Purifier for Babies?
Both newborns and toddlers have a much smaller lung capacity compared to adults. This means that children will be taking in more air than adults and inhaling more breaths each minute.
Babies breathe 40-60 times per minute. This is twice how an adult breathes, which is 18-20 times per minute.
However, these breathing patterns could be bad news for your baby because most homes have harmful airborne particles, such as allergens, bacteria, viruses and mould spores.
It is believed that air indoors is up to five times more polluted than outdoor air. This can betraced to homes designed to be airtight. Once pollutants make their way indoors, they have no way of escaping.
Unfortunately, baby nurseries and children’s rooms are at a higher risk for pollution. Many items parents bring into these rooms release harmfulairborne contaminants. Examples are carpeting, installed flooring and furniture; even the paint itself in the room could have high levels of volatile organic compounds or VOCs.
VOCs are gas released slowly from paints, varnishes, wood, carpet backing, adhesives and many others. These invisible gases can also be found in aerosol sprays and cleaners. In some cases, VOCs will take years to be released from a surface, making certain nursery items even more destructive for your baby’s development and health.
Air purifiers, such as RENSAIR HEPA air purifiers, can remove these harmful pollutants from the room. Some parents specifically look for the best VOC air purifier to give their children the freshest air to breathe.
In general, the best air purifier devices are excellent for removing the following:
- Dust
- Pollen
- Pet dander
- Mould spores
- Bacteria
- Viruses
- VOCs
- Smoke
- Odour.
What Is the Best Air Purifier for Baby Rooms?
The following are a few things to look for when purchasing an air purifier for your little one’s best health:
- Choose a true HEPA air purifier. HEPA filters are capable of trapping minuscule particles down to 0.3 microns. This size is seven times smaller than the thickness of human hair. HEPA air purifiers can also lock in 99.97% of particles that pass through the dense filter, including dust, pollen, mould spores, pet dander, bacteria and so forth.
- Look for energy-efficient air purifiers, those certified products that have experts’ stamp of approval and can help you save money in the long run.
- Not every affordably priced air purifier is a good deal. Check for the availability and cost of replacement filters. Experts recommend looking into the price of replacement filters, including how frequently you will be changing each one, when you total the cost.
- Be wary of ionising purifiers. Some air purifiers utilise ionizers totrap allergens. However, this process releases ozone, a lung pollutant that’s dangerous to people with asthma.
- Select the correct size. Air purifiers are built to work in rooms of a specific size. For example, in nurseries measuring 40 square metres, a device that is only capable of filtering allergens in a 30 square metre space may not be as effective in filtering out the allergens.
- Examine the clean-air delivery rate (CDR) of the device. Devices with higher CADRs can effectively clean more cubic metres per minute than those with lower CDRs.
- Consider an air purifier with a smart sensor and air-quality display. These featuresenable you to monitor the air quality in your baby and nursery room. Some air purifier models automatically update their status on your smartphone’s application.
- Activated carbon filters are efficient for removing unpleasant odours and VOCs. This type of filter is critical for maintaining the optimum safety of your baby’s room and keeps them from breathing airborne contaminants.
- Finally, the air purifier should operate quietly so as not to disturb your baby’s sleep.
To ensure your air purifier is effective, change the filters regularly according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Also, if you fail to maintain your filters, it will accumulate debris that can cause the filter to go bad. Chunks of particles can wear out the unit, and the motor can become damaged over time.
An air purifier should not be considered a magic bullet. Think of it as one aspect of your overall plan to sanitise your home. In this time of COVID-19 pandemic, you must apply a comprehensive strategy, including wearing a mask and disinfecting surfaces.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do HEPA Filters Stop Coronavirus?
The coronavirus particle size is 125 nanometres (0.125 microns). However, the virus travels in biological aerosols, which have a size range of 0.3-5 microns. For this reason, air purifiers may not be 100% effective in filtering the coronavirus in a single pass
However, if a HEPA system is switched on for some time, it can eradicate a significant chunk of viruses with efficacy in the 90th percentile range of 99.94%–99.97%. Moreover, long enough exposure to UV lights in an air purifying device could disable some viruses, including SARS-CoV-2 viruses.
Can a HEPA Air Purifier Make You Sick?
Air purifiers making people sick is a prevalent myth with no basis. HEPA air purifiers, in fact, do the opposite. These devices help prevent diseases because they remove airborne bacteria that can make you sick.
Can Air Purifiers Trigger Coughing?
RENSAIR: The World’s Best Air Purifier
An air purifier gives your baby’s room an extra layer of protection. It’s a must-have if you have babies at home. If you want the best brand of HEPA air filters in Australia and the world, choose RENSAIR.
RENSAIR’s hospital-grade air purifier technology can remove 99.97% of airborne particles and cover up to 560 m3 of air per hour.