Indoor Air Cleaning

Related from GPMI: Air quality testing, independent and lab-based.

Indoor air cleaning systems are one of the most commonly used methods for controlling indoor air pollution and the spread of mold. The other two methods are source control (eliminating or minimizing the source of pollution) and ventilation. Both portable air-cleaning units for room-size applications and in-duct devices/filters that are installed in the HVAC system are readily available in the marketplace. Typically, these air-cleaning units have filters that need to be replaced periodically, and it is important to note the age of filters in your system and replace them as needed. For in-duct devices/filters, they could be implemented primarily for removing pollutants from outdoor air, in which they would be installed at the outdoor air intake, or for removing pollutants and mold spores from recirculated indoor air. These air cleaners use various air cleanings technologies, such as filtration, adsorption by activated carbon, photocatalytic oxidation, or a combination of them.

Air cleaning technologies are designed to remove either particulate pollutants or gaseous pollutants (i.e., VOCs). Therefore, it is important to know the target pollutants to be removed and identify the appropriate air-cleaning devices.

Note: that these air filters should be changed as needed and not on a timely basis. We always recommend that air return filters are changed with an allergy-rated disposable filter to help improve indoor air quality.

Where this fits

• Symptoms of black mold exposure, what the evidence supports and what it does not, marked as what each one is
• Indoor air quality testing