Mold Spores and HEPA Filters

While you may think that HEPA filters are overrated and you do not need to have any appliances in your home that have them, you may want to rethink that logic and take a moment to consider all the things that contaminate the air inside your house. As people are spending more and more time making a living while working from home, we do not realize just how many airborne particles we are inhaling. Whether it is smoke, pet dander, dead skin cells, mold spores, chemical fumes, dust mites, or anything else that might become airborne, having a HEPA filter either on your vacuum cleaner or having an air purifier equipped with one can improve the quality of your health by leaps and bounds.

High Efficiency Particulate Air filters are becoming more and more popular these days, but many of us are still skeptical about what exactly their qualifications are. These filters are made up of fibers that are arranged randomly so that dust and other small particles in the air have a hard time navigating through them. They are capable of removing 99.97% of all particles in the air down to 0.3 microns in diameter. This is approximately 1/300 the width of a human hair.

Removing mold spores and other possible allergens are of particular concern for parents of children who have allergies and respiratory conditions. A household that suffers from a high mold spore count can benefit from the purchase of a vacuum cleaner that is equipped with a HEPA filter until they can afford to remove the mold from the property.

HEPA filters used in hospitals and other clean areas have also been known to incorporate ultra-violet lights to kill some live bacteria that often become trapped by it. Some of the most effective HEPA filters are capable of removing 99.995% of particles from the air and this means that they are very effective in reducing incidences of airborne disease transmission.

Some vacuum cleaners also come equipped with HEPA filters, although in order to be effective, all the air that the machine takes in must be pushed out through the filter and none of the air can be allowed to get past it. To get through the extra amount of air resistance, the motor of the vacuum also needs to be much more powerful, so these machines are typically quite a bit more expensive than your normal vacuum.


Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
New Jersey mold inspections and other states and cities such as
north carolina mold inspections companies across the united states.