Can Air Purifiers get rid of dust mites?
Although dust and dust mites are usually a small inconvenience that we don’t pay attention to, there are in fact more than 100 million people in the world who are allergic to dust mites. And the scale of their allergic reaction ranges from simple like an itchy nose to the more serious like nasal congestion and constant sneezing.
And although it is impossible to completely remove dust mites entirely, there’s an efficient and cost-effective way of filtering out most of them and creating a far more comfortable environment with cleaner air for people with dust allergies, and this is by using air purifiers. High-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter can help remove dust mites and other allergens from the air and prevent allergic reactions.
Air Purifiers for dust mites
Dust mites are one of the major triggers of both allergies and asthma, and it can make your symptoms worse if a solution isn’t found. Thankfully, high-quality air purifiers are excellent at filtering out dust mites and ensuring the air is clean and breathable by killing germs and other harmful airborne microorganisms.
Health issues due to dust mites
Continuous exposure to dust mites might sound harmless, but it can have a considerably detrimental effect on your health. Although, how detrimental it’ll be will differ from one person to another. Common symptoms include nasal congestion, itchy nose or throat, postnasal drip, coughing, sneezing, runny nose, itchy or red eyes. In serious cases, people might suffer chronic coughing, sneezing, and even asthma, according to the American Lung Association.
What exactly are dust mites?
House dust is a gold mine where we find various microscopic particles of all kinds such as molds, pollens, skin or hair debris, and, important to our topic, dust mites. The last item alone represents nearly 90% of house dust. That’s why what most people call a “dust allergy” is actually an allergy to dust mites.
Dust mites are microscopic arachnids that feed on human or animal skin debris. They love warm and humid environments and nest mainly in fabrics, wool and feathers. They are most often found in mattresses, pillows, carpets, or sofas. The worst seasons for allergy are the fall and winter when dust mites take refuge indoors to enjoy the warmth and reproduce.
Dust mite removal
Dust mites are everywhere, even in the cleanest homes. It is impossible to avoid them completely, but reducing their numbers sufficiently is enough to reduce or even eliminate the allergy symptoms. And several means exist and they must often be combined to obtain a satisfactory result:
- They are destroyed by high temperatures (over 55°C). Although, as you might’ve guessed, it isn’t, to put it lightly, practical to increase your room’s temperature to such high degrees to kill the dust mites. But, it is possible to wash your bedding and pillows in hot water frequently.
- Limiting humidity: as we’ve mentioned before, dust mites need humidity to survive and thrive, and this is why they’re so prevalent in autumn and winter. Limiting humidity in your home will go a long way in limiting the spread of dust mites and minimizing allergic reactions to it. And you can limit humidity by going with a high-quality dehumidifier.
- You can also reduce the number of dust mites in the environment directly by simply filtering them out. To do this, it is advisable to clean the air in your indoor spaces using using a HEPA filter device.
The best air purifier technologies for dust removal
Instead of constantly needing to worry about cleaning the fabrics, ensuring nothing is dusty, and using medication, you can use a high-quality air purifier to make sure most of the dust mites are filtered out.
Installing an air purifier with the HEPA technology means that you’ll have a device that filters out most dust mites and air-borne pathogens, and it can do that silently while you’re working or relaxing without you even noticing.