If your pet seems to be triggering asthma flare ups, don’t throw in the towel just yet. The most likely trigger is the protein in the dander that is invisible to the human eye, but that attaches to air and other airborne particles.
One the most effective and non-invasive ways to minimize the effects of the dander is to continually filter it from the air. Here are the 5 best features to have in a cleaner that will yield the best results.
1. Match the Filter to The Problem—One of the most important things to do is to check the type of filters that a cleaner has. You definitely want it to include one for particles because they are often most responsible for pet-related asthma flare ups.
2. Size Does Matter—Air cleaners work by cleaning the air closest to them, returning it to the room to displace more air that it then pulls in to clean. It will continue to do this to all air that is available to it. So if you put a cleaner that is designed to filter a space than it is able, you will experience results that are less than satisfactory.
Measure your area and look at the technical specifications to make sure the cleaner is designed to clean your square footage or greater. Make sure the unit is designed to clean the area you have. Over sizing the unit by a few feet is preferable to under sizing it for reasons stated in the previous paragraph.
3. Has Multiple Types of Filters—Whereas particulate irritants are important to be able to remove, the fact is that gases, odors, and chemicals can also play havoc with asthmatics. Choosing a cleaner that can also remove gaseous pollutants is saves you money-one air purifier can do it all rather than multiple cleaners.
Carbon cloth is well known for its ability to remove gaseous pollutants; and because it is a cloth it is also able to eliminate particles efficiently as well.
4. Can Go Where You Go—A portable air cleaner gives you the most control over the air you breathe. A filter that is easily lifted and that can be rolled from one location in your space to another means that you can always be assured of clean air whether you’re at home, visiting friend or relatives, or on vacation. Portability means that clean air is always as close as the nearest outlet.
5. Uses HEPA Filtration—In order for this type of filter to deemed a high efficiency particle arresting (HEPA) filter, it must proved that it can eliminate 99,997 out every 10,000 airborne particulates that are.3 microns in size or greater. A micron is defined as one millionth on a meter.
This type of filter is so useful to asthmatics because often it is a combination of triggers that cause flare ups. Many of the typical triggers are particulates such as household dust, dust mites, seasonal pollen, as well as mold and mildew spores.
By allowing this type of filtration to work continually in your space, you will greatly reduce the number of irritants in the air, and lessen the flare ups that are related to them.