PM 2.5 Filters

What is PM 2.5?

PM 2.5 is the smallest particle, ranging in size from 0.001 to 2.5 micrometers (μm), found in the air. Such dimensions are much thinner than a human hair (40-120 microns), less than a red blood cell (7 microns). Also, there are larger particles that can be found in the air, with a size of 0-10 microns – they are called PM 10. PM is an abbreviated English Particulate Matter – solid particles. PM2.5 and PM10 have measured in weight – micrograms per cubic meter (µg / m³).

1 micron = 0.001 mm = 0.0001 cm = 0.000001 m. One micrometer is a millionth of a meter.

What are PM 2.5 filters?

As its name suggests, this filter is PM 2.5 certified: It is a filter offering guaranteed filtration of 2.5 microns (better than the fabric masks and the famous threshold of 3 microns). In addition, the PM2.5 filters include five superimposed filtration layers, including one activated carbon filtration layer, hence its efficiency and high performance.

How do PM 2.5 filters work?

PM 2.5 filters in pollution masks

The PM 2.5 filters are compatible with any pollution mask fabric PM 2.5 adult size. Like any PM 2.5 filter, the life is 8 hours in total, twice as long as with a surgical mask. It is a filter with certified high filtration.

PM 2.5 filters mask made of soft, non-allergenic, melt-blown material. It creates an electrostatic barrier to capture the microscopic particles. The PM 2.5 filters mask has a compact design. You can freely adjust the size. It is easy to wear and comfortable.

Adjustable Nose Bridge: according to each person’s nose type to adjust, make the mask and nose snugger. It increases the mask sealing effect, avoids the breath caused by the fog of the glasses. The masks are washable, and PM 2.5 filters can replace. The PM 2.5 filters mask has a great filtering effect because they have five filter layers.

PM 2.5 filters in air purifiers

In the past, air purifiers with the PM 2.5 filters were used in buildings such as laboratories and healthcare facilities. However, as ongoing research shows, the health risks associated with air quality are highest in shared areas, where these new tools should therefore introduce.

PM 2.5 filters do not simply capture microscopic particles as if they were a fish stuck in a net. PM 2.5 filters create an electrostatic barrier to capture particles through three different methods: occlusion, interception, and diffusion.

• Interception: Microscopic particles will partially follow the current flow around the filter fibers, but some of them will slightly escape trajectory due to their inertia. The filter fibers thus intercept these particles, which try to pass.
• Diffusion: The microscopic particles bump into each other and behave more erratically, moving in a way that makes it very unlikely that they will be able to pass the filter fibers without touching them. It means that the microscopic particles are not necessarily the most difficult to filter out. In the PM 2.5 filters, these methods join forces to remove PM 2.5 contaminants, including dust, allergens, germs, and dangerous organic compounds. Understanding this methodology makes it easier for facility managers to select the best air purifiers and prevent problems related to indoor air quality.

Hepa Filter

The HEPA filter is considered to be one of the most effective. It can have different levels of filtration, the highest ones, levels 13 and 14 are also those used in hospitals and operating theaters. Thanks to the physical filter, they can retain up to 99.995% of pollutants up to a size of 0.3 microns. You have to pay attention to the quality, the level of filtering, and above all that it is a certified Hepa filter.

True Hepa Filter

The H13 grade HEPA filter layer is very effective in removing 99.97% of fine dust and particles up to 0.3 μm in size and capturing microscopic allergens, viruses, bacteria, microbes, and pollen. From the various tests performed on the filter, the ability to prevent microbial contamination was also attested.

Where do PM 2.5 particles come from?

The origin of PM 2.5 particles, which are constantly in suspension in the air, is different – both natural and anthropogenic  (ie generated by humans).

These are, among other things, microscopic particles of mineral salts, soot, rubber, sand and asphalt, heavy metal compounds, plant pollen, waste products of microorganisms (for example, dust mites), bacteria, tiny droplets of liquids (so-called aerosol pollution), gases.

Interestingly, soot, which is especially abundant in the air, is essentially a coal derivative and is adsorbent. Therefore, various toxic compounds are often deposited on soot particles. That is, we have not just soot in the air, but soot with harmful additives.

If we go a little deeper into PM 2.5, we can distinguish between primary and secondary particles. Particles primary in origin enter the air ready-made. But secondary ones are formed directly in the air due to various chemical reactions and compounds of different substances.

Fine particles PM 2.5 are always in the air. It does not matter where you are and breathe. But in different locations, the air is filled with particles of different origins and in different quantities. Naturally, the atmosphere of cities or near large industrial enterprises contains much more of such pollutants.

For safe human life, the average daily PM 2.5 level in the air, as per the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO), should not exceed 25 micrograms (μg) per cubic meter of air. In the USA and Russia, however, other norms have been established – 35 µg / m³. In the EU countries, an average annual rate of 25 µg / m³. WHO recommends an average annual rate of no more than 10 µg / m³.

WHO data: 91% of the world’s population lives in areas where pollution levels exceed the values established in the WHO air quality guidelines.

How PM 2.5 Particles Affect the Human Body

Due to its ultra-small size, all those particles of various origins that are constantly in the air, when inhaled, enter the lungs and are not further retained by natural biological barriers but pass into the bloodstream. Unfortunately, such impurities – fine particles – can accumulate in the body, which may well become a trigger for various unpleasant health-related consequences.

What are the consequences? The most different, it depends on the composition and volume of contaminants that enter the body. For example, various allergic reactions of the respiratory system.

These are heart attacks with strokes, oncology, problems with the development of the fetus in pregnant women, and even the possibility of miscarriage. The fact is that the cumulative effect often does not allow to associate troubles with health precisely, with the fact that a person, for example, breathed dirty air for 15 years. The body’s reaction to the accumulation of harmful substances in it is often not immediately noticeable.

However, the fact that dirty air negatively affects health and causes not only illness but also death. According to WHO, about 4 million deaths each year are due to the -ve effects of outdoor air pollution.

How to protect yourself and loved ones from dirty air

There is no absolute solution to the problem. A person cannot stay in a place with a sterile atmosphere all the time. Even if such a location can be organized every day we move around the city and the world, we live an ordinary life that does not provide complete isolation.

You can, of course, use respirators – protective masks that filter the air when inhaled. But this practice becomes somewhat widespread only in case of clear and visible threat – for example, smog in a city.

The only way to significantly improve the quality of the air you breathe is to use air purifiers. They are of different types – they purify the air directly in the room. They have the function of supplying and purifying the air from the street (the so-called supply ventilation).

Most household air purifiers provide mechanical air purification. They let air pass through filters (as a rule, there are several of them). Here are a few key points to consider when choosing an air purifier:

Key Points

• You should have in your home a highly efficient air purifier with a filter based on HEPA technology. These filters are usually made of non-woven fibrous material that can trap even the smallest contaminants. Among household purifiers, there are models whose filters have been tested and certified. It filters fine particles with a size of 0.5 microns and even smaller. Moreover, with an efficiency of at least 99%, the leader in PM2.5 particle retention efficiency is considered to be True HEPA filters. It retains particles as small as 0.003 microns with an efficiency of more than 99.5%.
• It is advisable to purchase separate climatic devices, not multifunctional ones, for example, a separate air purifier and a separate humidifier. The fact is that such closeness of moisture can have the wrong effect on HEPA and carbon filters. It reduces their effectiveness. Ionization in household air purifiers is more marketing than a useful function. The power of the ionizer is usually very little. There is no noticeable effect (feeling of fresh air, disinfection), while ionization contributes to the deposition of dust on various surfaces, including the surface of the lungs.
• The presence of a filter system to combat pollution of different origins and states of aggregation. As a rule, there should also be a charcoal filter that fights odors and various gaseous contaminants. The pre-filter traps coarse dust, hair, and other contaminants, protecting the rest of the filters. It allows them to work at maximum efficiency for longer (that is, do a fine job of cleaning the air);
• Filters in a truly effective air purifier cannot be small, thin. The larger the area of the filter’s working surface, the better it copes with air purification and, the higher its working resource.