Which air filters are used for tobacco smoke? Are they effective? 
Is there any new technology under development for this purpose? If
yes, how long will we have to wait, until it reach the market?

---

Request for Question Clarification by ephraim-ga on 06 Nov 2002 06:14 PST

Are you talking about the filters in cigarettes or the type of filters
one might use in a restaurant to comply with local law?

/ephraim

---

Request for Question Clarification by nancylynn-ga on 06 Nov 2002 06:58 PST

Hi, I am wondering if you mean home air filter machines -- units you
can buy at places like Wal-Mart or True Value, etc.?

nancylynn-ga

---

Clarification of Question by amsv-ga on 06 Nov 2002 07:24 PST

I'm talking about filters that are used to purify breathing air (from
tobacco smoke and other nasty particles) in both private and public
closed places. I know that there are several systems (electronic,
electrostatic, HEPA, etc.). I want to know which of them are more
effective, and most commonly used.
But I am particularly interested in the second part of the question:
Are there any new technologies under development for this purpose?
(Purifying breathing air) If yes, how do they work and approximately
how long, will we have to wait until those technologies reach the
market?

There is no particular air filter that is highly effective at removing
tobacco smoke. Why? You have two problems with tobacco smoke – the
particulates (suspended ash particles) and odor. You may be successful
at removing the particulates but not the odor or odor but not the
particulates.

I’ve previously worked as a technical supervisor for a company
specializing in air purification. There are a lot of air purification
methods already available in the market today and each method is
particularly effective for a specific application. I would like to
present to you the advantages and disadvantages of each method, each
with its pros and cons and provide you with links for you to know more
and make your own judgment on what is best suited to your need. The
links I will provide does not mean that these are the only
manufacturers for that given air purification method. There are still
others but listing all of them would be very tedious so I hope you
understand. Your questions will be answered as you read on.

HEPA (High efficiency particulate accumulator) are air filtration
devices that specializes in capturing particles in the air such as
dust, ash from smoke, lint, dust mites, spores, etc. Some of Hepa
filters available in the market today are Bionaire, Honeywell, and
Filter Queen.

PROS
Portable
Highly effective at removing particulates up to 0.3 micron (Anything
less than 10 microns is invisible to the naked eye)

CONS
Does not remove odors (it only filters air particle)
Does not kill dust mites and other harmful micro-organisms (it only
collects it)
Efficiency is lessened as the filter becomes clogged
Replacement filter cost is high in the long run
Frequent maintenance depending on application
Filters are non-washable (otherwise, it would not be that effective
anymore)
Some models are noisy
Some models easily break down
Relatively high power consumption (because of the motor)
A single unit cannot effectively serve an industrial size application.

You can find more info on HEPA filtration at the following links:

Bionaire Website
http://www.bionaire.com/

Honeywell Website
http://www.honeywell.com/

Filter Queen Website
http://www.filterqueen.com/

Ionization is another type of air purification which works on the
principle of adding a negative charge to a suspended particle. The
charged particle attracts other particles. The idea is that soon, the
particle will be too heavy and soon it will precipitate or fall to the
ground. Other ionizers work in a similar way like HEPA filters in that
it attracts suspended particles inside the ionizing unit. Ionization
is suitable for smoke problems. Examples of Ionizers are Clearveil and
Five Seasons

PROS
Mobile/ transportable
Effective at precipitating airborne micro-particulates
Relatively low power consumption

CONS
Cannot remove odors (it either precipitates or collects particulates)
Does not kill dust mites and other harmful micro-organisms
Efficiency is lessened as the ionizing unit becomes clogged
Replacement filter cost is high or hard to find without the product
source (not all ionizers have air filters but some do)
Frequent cleaning to sustain optimum performance
A single unit cannot serve an industrial size application

You can find more info on ionization at the following link:

Clearveil Website
http://www.clearveil.com/fr_index.html

Activated carbon filtration is another technique that uses activated
carbon or carbon compounds to remove unpleasant odors. This works in a
similar way like putting charcoal inside a refrigerator to remove or
at least lessen the odor. Some brands in this category are Amaircare
(this company also have HEPA units) and Germitrol.

PROS
Portable
Removes odors and toxic fumes through adsorption
Low power consumption

CONS
Efficiency is lessened as the filter becomes clogged
Replacement filter cost is high
Replacement filter is hard to find without the product source
Cannot serve for industrial applications

You can find more info on carbon filtration at the following links:

Amaircare Website
http://www.amaircare.com/index2.html

Germitrol Website
http://www.germitrol.com/

Ozone air purification is another method of cleaning the air. It uses
ozone or (O3) to clean the air. Ozone is different from oxygen (O2) in
that it has another extra atom in it. This extra atom is the oxidizing
agent that breaks down the pollutant. It also kills airborne bacteria,
virus, and germs by breaking down the “skin” of these entities and
continually breaking down the insides. Ozone naturally occurs in our
environment particularly in the higher atmosphere. You may think of
ozone as the scrubber in the air. The ozone method is highly effective
at removing suspended air particulates and odors and killing microbes.
Some of the products available in the market are Ozone Pollution
Technology and Alpine Air

PROS
Removes various odors
Kills micro-organisms
Portable and versatile
Efficiently precipitates and filters airborne micro-particulates
Washable filters
Low filter cost and high availability
Low power consumption
Larger application area
Available in various models (car, home, office, commercial,
institutional, and industrial)
Can be used in air-conditioning ducts

CONS
No ionizer
Frequent filter change (depending on application)
Efficiency is lessened as the filter becomes clogged
Replacement filter cost could be high

More info ozone techniques:

Ozone Pollution Technology Website
http://www.ozonetec.com/

Alpine Air Website
http://www.alpine-air-purifiers-usa.com/

Lastly, there is another similar ozone method but this one uses UV
radiation to produce ozone and is mostly used in hospital
applications. The reason is because the method used by Ozonetec and
Alpine Air utilizes high voltage of electricity to produce ozone. High
voltage electricity produces frequencies that can interfere with the
proper functioning of equipment such as heart monitors and other
sensitive and vital hospital equipment. UV radiation uses ultra-violet
light to breakdown oxygen in order to produce ozone. Some brands are
Ultra-Sterile and Bio-Fighter. You can see these two products at Jonas
Heating and Cooling Website
(http://www.jonasoil.com/index.htm?ultraviolet.htm~mainFrame)

With the current developments in our technology, I’m sure there would
be other methods available. Regarding tobacco smoke problems, I
personally prefer having an ozone purifier (to remove odors and kill
microbes) and a HEPA filter (for the particulates) for good measure.

So that’s about it. I would be glad to answer further comments
regarding this matter. If you have other questions, please feel free
to ask here at Google Answers.

Feilong-ga

Didn't answer my question.  I had to do my own research.

Here is a website that I found on the topic if you are interested in
doing the research yourself:

http://www.baumgartnerinc.com/cigfilter.shtml
 - A company that makes cigarette filters.

P.S. If you do not want to do the research yourself, I can look it up
for you.

I did some research on this about two years ago. I found that of the
home air cleaners, charcoal (carbon) filters work best for tobacco
smoke, but not well. The more charcoal/carbon, the better.

The Ozone cleaners can be dangerous. At the time of my research,
several were discovered to produce harmful levels of ozone.

Hope this helps!

It's true that ozone can be harmful, everything is -- if it is in very
high concentrations and used incorrectly. The exposure standard for
occupied areas is from .05 parts per million (ppm) to .01 ppm. That's
enough to clean the air pollutants in an occupied area.

Werner Von Siemens developed the first ozone generator in Germany in
1857. This proves that ozone technology has been around for more than
100 years. C. Lender, also a German, first used ozone in 1870 for
therapeutic blood purification. From 1857 until now, no one has ever
died from ozone nor has there been a serious claim of physical injury.
This may be because ozone easily changes back to its original state as
oxygen. Ozone devices are used in many different applications today
and can even be found built-in in some car models to remove stale odor
inside.

Ozone concentrations as low as .034 ppm have been shown to be deadly
over a 24 hour period for the elderly:
Ozone Health Effect
http://swehsc.pharmacy.arizona.edu/coep/air/air_quality/OZONE.pdf

I also read: "Like with many other things, small amounts are OK, large
amounts are dangerous for your health (although nobody ever died from
ozone).":
Ionic Breeze ad
http://s-2000.com/netdir/Reviews/921.html

But note that the above is taken from an ad.

I'm considering contacting the FTC ( http://www.ftc.gov/ ), but their
File a Complaint Online button isn't working now.