Respiratory ailments, often attributed to poor indoor air quality, represent the third largest cause of death in the U.S., ranking only behind heart disease and cancer, according to the American Medical Association. The Environmental Protection Agency has said that indoor air is often 7-10 times poorer than outdoor air quality.

Airborne particles are divided into two classifications – coarse, or those particles larger than 2.5 micron in diameter, and fine – those particles 2.5 micron or less in diameter. For reference purposes, a micron is 1/25,000th of an inch in diameter! It is the fine particles, 2.5 micron or smaller, that our natural defense systems cannot eliminate. Individuals with health problems, such as allergies or asthma, need to be protected from poor indoor air quality, as do certain other groups such as the elderly or the very young, who may have compromised or underdeveloped respiratory systems. Problems with indoor air quality go beyond health related issues – productivity, absenteeism, product integrity and even one’s sense of well-being may be adversely affected by poor air quality.

There are three basic approaches to improving indoor air quality. You can (1) control or eliminate the source of pollutant, (2) dilute the contaminant, usually through ventilation, or (3) remove the contaminant from the air by filtration. You can’t always reduce or eliminate the air contaminant source. Ventilation can be a good approach, but the source of contaminant may be in the outside air itself. Also, ventilation can raise the cost of conditioning the air, since you may be required to heat or cool more air than before. When control and ventilation are not practical, filtration becomes an important option.

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