Health

How Can Vacuum Cleaners Affect Your Health?

And how they can become harmless...

By Stefan Anitei, Science Editor

27th of September 2007, 11:15 GMT

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It is clear that vacuum cleaners have saved us from a lot of effort and time wasted on cleaning our houses. Still, some researches have demonstrated that using this electric appliance too much can decrease the quality of the air we breathe.

It appears that the vacuum cleaner expels to the environment particles and microorganisms which are already found in the domestic dust

and which the filters are not able to retain.

These data should be taken into consideration if you or someone in the house suffers of any respiratory disease, like asthma, allergy, rhinitis (inflammation of the nose or its mucous membrane) or conjunctivitis.

When purchasing a vacuum cleaner, choose the most recent models that incorporate accessories able to retain effectively the dust and filter the outgoing air so that the microorganisms won't go back to the environment. Some use longitudinally mounted ultraviolet ray tubes which kill the micro-organisms contained in the air by exposure to the emitted ultraviolet radiation. The cleansed air is then returned to the room.

Another method is through electronic air cleansers, using an electronic field to trap particles. Air washing can be made by an open water holding tank, a fan and a series of plastic disks partially submerged in the water acted by a motor. The fan blows air over the wet disks as they are introduced in the water, which produces water vapors into the air, which trap particles from the fan's airstream.

The incineration technology kills microorganisms by exposing them, with the help of a heating element, to temperatures over 400�F (204o C). Other methods include ozonation (the use of ozone for killing bugs). Carbon pellets and photocatalysis can also adsorb or destroy toxic gases.

Also, it's better the keep the windows opened while using the vacuum cleaner, or cleansing the lint stuck to the brush.

TAGS:

device | air | ozone | cleaner | ultraviolet

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