Have you ever heard of “sick buildings” and the danger they can cause to our health? Have you ever wondered if your home or your place of employment can be taking years off of your life? Anything that is not promoting good health is not contributing to an anti aging lifestyle. This is one reason to serious take a look at what air purifiers can do to give a boost to your anti aging lifestyle.
Let’s look at things in the past that were common place in homes and buildings. Lead based paints, asbestos tiles and insulation and shingles. There was even lead in the dishes and cups we ate and drank from. People lived with these for years and now they are gone. What about chemicals that were used for pesticides and even in home use products, or even in our shampoos? How many years do we use harmful items in our home or at work not expecting to contract an illness from it because we feel safe? At one time we did not even think we needed in home or office air purifiers. Now we realize that we need air purifiers to prevent poor health from our indoor environment. We try so many things to promote anti aging that include vitamins, exercise, and a healthy diet. Have you thought of your lungs? What are you putting into your body each time you take a deep breath?
When was the last time that you really took a long deep breath that filled your lungs? Do you breathe shallowly or can you take big healthy long breaths? Our bodies try to protect themselves from the environment. The way we breathe should be an indication of the environment we live in. Think about an ultra smoggy or dusty or area where the odor is not the greatest. Feel the way you breathe when you imagine being in that sort of situation. Now imagine you are in the middle of the ocean on a nice ship standing on the deck, or you are in the mountains way up high and outside admiring all the beauty, or maybe standing on the shore of the ocean in some tropical island paradise. Can you feel that you breathe differently in each situation? Does this help you feel why more and more people are discovering that there is a need for an air purifier at home, and in the work place? Most of us try so hard to have a long healthy life. We avoid so many products that hinder our anti aging lifestyles, and now we find out there is another culprit out there to harm us. Air quality and what is in the air we breathe is something that until recently we have had no control over.
Maybe you are skeptical but here are a few of the things you might be breathing at home or at work. Are you ready for this? If you are easily grossed out maybe you should quit reading now. However isn’t it better to be informed when you are concerned about your anti aging lifestyle? Here are just a few of the things we breathe in every day at home and at work: Mold, mildew, insect larvae, flakes of dead skin and dust mites, dander, particulate matter from chemicals that are giving off gasses such as formaldehyde.
Did you know? • Insurance companies no longer cover mold damage in houses. • Three million people around the world die prematurely from indoor air pollution. • Six thousand people a year die from complications of asthma. • Over 30 million people in the USA have sinus problems. • According to a 1999 Mayo Clinic Study, nearly all chronic sinus infections (afflicting 37 million Americans) are a result of molds. • A 300% increase in the asthma rate over the past 20 years has been linked to molds. (according to 1999 USA Today Cover Story)
The American Lung Association of California’s web site has some interesting facts on particulate matter that they posed in an article on April of 2003. “Particulate matter air pollution is among the most harmful of all air pollutants. When inhaled, these particles evade the respiratory system’s natural defenses and lodge deep in the lungs. Particulate matter is especially harmful to people with lung disease such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema, as well as people with heart disease. Exposure to particulate air pollution can trigger asthma attacks and cause wheezing, coughing, and respiratory irritation in individuals with sensitive airways. “ What is particulate matter? Particulate matter found in the home can be a combination of fine solids such as dirt, soil dust, pollens, molds, ashes, and soot. They can be very harmful and may lead to premature death. No one wants to die early and that is why so many people are concerned with healthy lifestyles and products that promote anti aging. Here is a headline taken again from the American Lung Association of California’s web page and it is dated May 2, 2006. “Nearly 5 Million Californians Have Asthma, Costing $1.3 Billion for Hospitalizations and Medications Annually.” What do they state as the cause? Some of the causes include the following: dust, second-hand smoke, air pollution and pollen. Here is something else to consider. Our lungs are our body’s air filter, but the air we breathe is becoming more and more carcinogenic. 75%-90% of cancers are caused by environmental conditions. 50% of all illnesses or diseases are caused by poor air indoors. Think about how much time you spend indoors. Indoor air can be worse than outdoor air. 12000 quarts of air a day is taken in by our breathing and it goes to our lungs first. Then this air goes into our blood stream and our immune system is affected by it. A healthy immune system is a must have to live an anti aging lifestyle.
What is an air purifier? When most people think of an air purifier they think of something that removes bad odors from a living area. Well just as bad odors can travel through a house so can the particulate matters that were discussed earlier in this article.
There are small air purifiers that can clean up the air around us. They do this changing the chemical charge of the harmful particles which makes them heavy and they drop to the ground. They can no longer float in the air to get breathed into our lungs. This system of air purifier uses UV light to purify the air. There is no maintenance to a system like this since it is the cutting edge using the UV light to flood the air with ions that have an opposite charge to the harmful particles. Just as UV light is what Nature uses as one way to clean our air outside, it is now available in an air purifier. Once the particles are on the ground they can be vacuumed. This is the simple explanation of the process. However this process can remove up to 99% of the harmful matter in the air inside our homes and work environments.
There are other types of air purifiers that have filters in them. With the replaceable UV bulb the only maintenance is to wipe the bulb off occasionally and to put a new bulb in when the other one is about a year old. However let’s take a look at the filter type of air purifier. There are more and more types on the market as more and more expert consumer guides are giving positive reviews on the benefits of air purifiers for improved health and anti aging by making healthier air available. Several of the types with filters use the HEPA filter. The HEPA filter traps particles onto the filter and later the filter is disposed of or cleaned for reuse. It is an individual choice whether one wants a cleaner smell with the UV light or prefers the idea of a filter where the particles are trapped. Of course there is a debate as to which type of air purifier works better, and so far that is still undecided. No matter which one you choose to get you are better off then if you make no choice at all. If anti aging is a concern and not suffering a respiratory disease or cancer, then any investment is a good one while you wait for the debate to end and the winning system to be picked.
Article written by Gayle Bowen. A copyright does exist on this article dated 7/31/2006. Please contact Gayle through www.ezinearticles.com to obtain permission to reprint this article.
