Posts Tagged ‘Tobacco Smoke’

* What is an air purifier?

Air inside your home can be considerably dirtier than the air outside your home. An air purifier can free the air from pollutants and allergens indoors. These particles can be as small as 0.3 microns. Air purifiers can serve a double purpose as most air purifiers are also effective at removing odors from a room. Some purifiers use a method of ionization to capture and remove allergen particles in the air. Ionization forces airborne particles to stick to exterior surfaces. Then, air purifier sucks them up later on.

Regardless of how clean you keep your home or workplace, your air most likely contains some or all of the following pollutants or allergens:

Particles: dust, dust mites, allergens, smoke particles, pet dander, pollen

Microbes: mold spores, viruses, bacteria, and germs

Gas and Chemical Fumes: tobacco smoke, formaldehyde, benzene, nail treatment products

Odors: cooking, litter boxes, body, cigarette smoke, and pets

* How does an air purifier work?

The air purifier acts as a filter that inhibits tiny particles such as soot, dust, pollen, molds, animal dander and other pollution. An air purifier helps the air become clean and free from microorganisms.

An air purifer can be very effective at trapping allergens. The air enters the purifier and passes trough a chamber. When the air get inside the chamber the harmful residues are removed. The harmful residues are trapped inside the chamber, and the air that comes out of the purifier is safe and clean.

* Why do I need an air purifier?

An air purifier is important if you want to have clean air in your home. An air purifier can help reduce the amount of pollutants in the air that can be harmful to your health.

It also helps remove allergens like mold, bacteria, animal dander, dust, mites, excessive fumes, and a lot more. The pores in the filter membrane prevent contamination by some types of harmful particulates.

* Do air purifiers really help asthma patients?

One of the purposes of an air purifier is to have cleaner air. So far, there are studies that show that air purifiers do not have the capacity to prevent allergies and thus prevent asthma attacks. Even experts have mixed opinions about these conclusions.

It is widely accepted that air purifiers help in cleaning the air, but unfortunately there is little evidence of their effectiveness in the case of asthma sufferers.

* Are there different kinds of air filters?

Yes, there are five basic types of air filters:

1. Mechanical filters

These filters force air through a special mesh that traps pollutants and allergens.

2. Electronic filters

These air filters use electrical charges to attract and deposit pollutants and allergens. The most efficient filter of this type is the electrostatic filter. If the air purifier contains collecting plates, the particles are captured within the purifier. Otherwise, they stick to surfaces in the room and need to be cleaned.

3. Hybrid filters

These air filters contain the elements of both the mechanical and electrostatic filters.

4. Gas phase filters

These remove odors and gases such as cooking gas, gasses given off by paint or building materials, and perfumes. They cannot, however, remove particles.

5. Ozone generators

Although ozone cleans air, the EPA and the American Lung Association do not recommend these because ozone is harmful to the lungs, especially to asthma patients. This can be counter-productive to the purpose of using an air purifier.

Most resistance from smokers of regular tobacco-based cigarettes comes from the fact they believe the so-called smoke-less, or electronic cigarettes, won’t taste the same. Truth is, the electronic cigarettes have been designed to be a real alternative, both in taste and feel, to a regular cigarette while instantly providing the smoker with the same degree of nicotine they expect with each drag.

Smoking an electronic cigarette involves a slightly different technique, similar to that of pipe smoking. Once the smoker takes a drag, nicotine is released directly into a mist and the sensation of it hitting the lungs is virtually identical to it’s tobacco based counterpart. Nicotine, on average, reaches the lungs within five to ten seconds.

Afterward, smokers of the electronic cigarette typically don’t complain of the soreness that typically accompanies smoking a regular cigarette, although some do experience a slight dryness from the propylene glycol; but this quickly passes.

Some manufacturers of the electronic cigarette have striven to mimic traditional brands of regular tobacco based cigarettes. The NJOY electronic cigarette, for example, comes in four strengths, zero (no nicotine) through strong (Marlboro) as well as flavored brands including menthol, apple or strawberry.

Another big difference between tobacco and electronic cigarettes is price. To get started, a starter kit is priced at about $110. A replacement (rechargeable) battery runs about $15, and the nicotine cartridges cost $25 for a set of five. Each set is equivalent to about two packs of cigarettes. Dollar for dollar, the electronic cigarette is actually cheaper than their unhealthy counterparts over time.

Most users polled the electronic cigarette is as close to the real things by as much as 90-95%. The vapor actually looks like smoke but is made up of water and other ingredients generally regarded as safe. The cartridges contain no tobacco nor do they produce tobacco smoke or smoke of any kind.

Another pleasant difference between electronic cigarettes and tobacco cigarettes is the incredible strength of the smell of stale tobacco given off by smokers. The smell permeates clothes, cars, carpets and drapes. This vanishes completely with electronic cigarettes, since there is no actual fire or burning tobacco. You’re not inhaling (nor exhaling) all the oxidized compounds, therefore there’s nothing left to cause an odor.

The downside in all of this, as if there were any, is the electronic cigarette will more than likely ruin the smoker’s desire to return to typical tobacco based products. After using the smokeless electronic cigarette, taste buds regenerate. After a few months, if an electronic smoker picks up a regular cigarette it will more than likely taste vile.

An added benefit is the ability for the electronic smoker to smoke in virtually any place or environment. Pubs, Clubs, restaurants, theaters and airplanes, places which have banned cigarette smoke for decades are completely legal for electronic smokers since the e-cigarette produces no illegal by-products, and therefore no secondhand smoke.