What is a HEPA filter?
What is a HEPA filter? What does it do and is it enough to protect us?
Medicair
"A HEPA filter is capable of capturing at least 99.97% of particulates 0.3 microns in diameter"
When you invest in a HEPA filter you are buying technology that has been tested and approved against a standard. This ensures the quality and reliability of the filter to remove even the tiniest airborne particles. Air filtration is actually more important than many of us realise as indoor air contains many different irritants and pollutants. A correctly chosen HEPA filter can ensure these pollutants are removed efficiently, vastly improving the quality of air you breathe. Pollutants can include pollen, dust mites, pet dander, viruses, bacteria and other pollutants.
Despite the effectiveness of HEPA filters to capture pollutants, these filters also provide a potential ‘breeding ground’ for particulates within the unit. Thus, it is crucial for the HEPA within a unit to be coated in an antimicrobial preservative layer, thus inhibiting the growth of bacteria on a filter.
Despite the effectiveness of HEPA filters, even at very small impurity levels, these filters do not kill any pathogens. Some air purifiers include UV-C technology to denature viruses and bacteria, essentially killing the particles trapped by the filters.
