PM stands for particulate matter (also called particle pollution): the term for a mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets found in the air. Some particles, such as dust, dirt, soot, or smoke, are large or dark enough to be seen with the naked eye. Others are so small they can only be detected using an electron microscope.

PM10: inhalable particles, with diameters that are generally 10 micrometers and smaller. 

PM2.5: fine inhalable particles, with diameters that are generally 2.5 micrometers and smaller.

How small is 2.5 micrometers? Think about a single hair from your head. The average human hair is about 70 micrometers in diameter – making it 30 times larger than the largest fine particle.

If you’re interested in learning more about particulate matter (PM) pollution, click here.

A micron, also known as (µm), is a small unit of measurement that measures length. It is another name for micrometer, which is one-thousandth of a millimeter, or one-millionth of a meter. Airborne particles are usually described in microns. Generally speaking, the human eye can see debris and dust that are approximately 25 microns in size. Particles smaller than 0.3 microns are considered to be ultrafine particles. Ultrafine particles penetrate deep into the lungs. The concentration of these particles is higher, making them harder for the lungs to deal with, leading to inflammation. Ultrafine particles are small enough to enter the cells in the body and end up in the bloodstream, potentially causing heart and brain diseases. Children, elderly people, and people with lung problems like asthma are especially vulnerable to ultrafine particle air pollution.

Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) refers to the air quality within and around buildings and structures, especially as it relates to the health and comfort of building occupants. Understanding and controlling common pollutants indoors can help reduce your risk of indoor health concerns. Health effects from indoor air pollutants may be experienced soon after exposure or possibly years later.

Air Quality Index (AQI) refers to a standardized way to measure how clean or polluted the air is and how it may affect your health. You can think of it like a weather report for the air you breathe. AQI is calculated based on levels of common air pollutants, including fine particles (PM2.5 and PM10), ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and carbon monoxide. These measurements are combined into a single number that shows whether the air is healthy or potentially harmful.

HEPA stands for “high-efficiency particulate air” (filter). A HEPA filter is a mesh-like sheet of dense interwoven synthetic or glass fibers. True HEPA filters are rated to capture particles at an efficiency of 99.97% down to 0.3 microns in size.

When shopping for air purification it's important to do your research prior to making a purchase. A common misconception people have with HEPA filters is any air filter with the name HEPA in it is the same. People need to reconsider air purifiers that use the terms“HEPA-type” or “HEPA-like”. These terms are misleading, and these devices likely cannot remove particles as small as a “True HEPA” filter. There is no standard set in place for “HEPA-like” and “HEPA-type” products so this should set off an alarm that these filters don’t meet HEPA standards.  

A MERV rating, also known as a Minimum Efficiency Reporting Values, reports a filter's ability to capture particles between 0.3 and 10 microns (µm). This value is helpful in comparing the performance of different filters. The higher the MERV rating the better the filter is at trapping specific types of particles.

Ozone is a colorless, odorless reactive gas comprised of three oxygen atoms and is considered to be a lung irritant. It is produced indirectly by ion generators and some other air cleaners. When inhaled, ozone can damage the lungs. Relatively low amounts can cause chest pain, coughing, shortness of breath, and throat irritation. Ozone may also worsen chronic respiratory diseases such as asthma and compromise the ability of the body to fight respiratory infections. Ozone should be considered a hazard to your health. Although ozone can be used in reducing odors and pollutants in unoccupied spaces, the levels needed to achieve this are above those generally thought to be safe for humans. Ozone has been found to negatively react with existing chemicals in the air to create additional toxic pollutants, most notably formaldehyde and ultrafine particles. This is why it's so important to do your research prior to purchasing an air purifier. As part of HealthWay's mission to make the world a better, safer place we believe that air purifiers should not only perform well but they should also, be built right with rigorous standards like Intertek Zero Ozone. Many of our portable air purifiers are certified with the Zero Ozone Verification by Intertek and are part of the Intertek Sustainability program. You can find information about the certification by searching the Intertek Sustainability Directory.

Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) are a large group of chemicals that can be found in the products we use every day. This includes many household cleaning products, personal care products, building materials, and more. VOCs can have a major impact on our indoor air quality and can cause serious health effects in both the short and long term. These health effects can vary from minor eye, nose, and throat irritations all the way to liver, kidney, and central nervous system damage, depending on the level and length of exposure. Studies have found that levels of several organics average 2 to 5 times higher indoors than outdoors and once these chemicals are in our homes, they are released into the air we breathe. For more information on VOCs, click here. 

Air purifiers can only clean the air that they can reach, so choosing an air purifier that’s right for your space is essential. Take for example a 30ft by 40ft room. This space has an area of 1200 square feet. To be effective, the capacity of your unit should be greater than or equal to the size of your space. In a 350-square foot office, for example, a 500-square foot capacity air purifier would provide good coverage, while one that is only rated for 250 square feet wouldn’t give you comprehensive purification throughout the office.If you’re unsure, it’s always better to go with an air purifier that provides more coverage in your space than less coverage. 

HealthWay® offers a wide range of air purifiers for your complete indoor air purification needs. We recommend choosing your air purifier based on square footage. All ofour air purifiers use the same industry-leading DFS technology which filters 99.99% of all ultrafine particles at .007 micron from the air. This means less dust and dander, pollen, dust mite waste, bacteria, mold, fungi, and viruses in your space. 

Take our clean air quiz to find your product recommendation.

The HealthWay Pro Unit effectively cleans a 500 square foot room with a standard ceiling height of 8.5 feet. It will also provide up to 2 additional air exchanges per hour in this size space. It is a great option for a bedroom, small living area, office space, classroom, and more. The HealthWay Pro Unit can also be purchased with a wall mount to keep the unit up off the floor away from tampering, dampness, or accidental damage.  

Estimated Time: 7 Minutes

Caution: Always disconnect power to the unit before servicing

To watch a video demonstration on how to replace your HealthWay Pro or Compact unit filters click here

The Deluxe Unit effectively cleans a 1,200 square foot room with a standard ceiling height of 8.5 feet. It will also provide up to 2 additional air exchanges per hour in this size space. This unit also comes equipped with a heavy-duty commercial-grade VOC absorption filter. The Deluxe Unit is a great option for spaces that need extra gas and odor removal. For example, newly built or renovated homes, offices, and hotels.

Estimated Time: 10 Minutes

Caution: Always disconnect power to the unit before servicing

To watch a video demonstration on how to replace your Deluxe Unit filters click here.

We highly recommend that a professional HVAC company installs the SuperV unit. Depending on where you are located, we may have an installation partner in your area. If not, we are happy to work with any HVAC provider of your choice.

The SuperV Whole House Air Cleaner has up to 3 years of filter life at 50% duty cycle and 1 1/2 year filter life if you run your HVAC system 100% of the time.

Indoor air pollution has been linked to lung cancer, asthma, cardiovascular disease, and Alzheimer’s disease. The Environmental Protection Agency recommends eliminating the source of the pollution when possible and running a high-quality portable air cleaner that can trap everything else, making your indoor space a significantly healthier place to be.

According to the EPA, there are three basic strategies to improve indoor air quality:

Source control: One of the most effective ways to improve indoor air quality is to tackle the source of the pollution. Examples of source pollution include stoves, furnaces, dryers, etc. Any machine or item with a motor in your space likely has some sort of emission. Many times, properly venting that emission can improve air quality.

Improved Ventilation: You can improve ventilation by allowing polluted air to leave, but also, by allowing clean air in. People often don’t realize it’s both that can make a difference. We recommend checking your outdoor air quality before venting it into your home (for instance, if you live in California, wildfire smoke is an extreme hazard if you were to open your window).

Air Purification: In many scenarios, the two options above won’t work or aren’t effective enough to make an impact and in those cases, we recommend a standalone air purifier. To fit the right air purifier for spaces throughout your environment, we recommend an air purifier that has a high-efficiency rate, can circulate the air often, and has long-term performance. All of our units are engineered to far exceed each and every one of these categories. To make this easy for people, we’ve come up with some general recommendations for portable air purification units based on the square footage of a typical space. Then, we stack units together to come up with the right solution for that space.

Air pollution is one of the largest environmental health risks. 9 out of 10 people worldwide don't breathe safe and healthy air. Air pollution has been linked to more than 7 million premature deaths each year including heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, respiratory diseases, and more. Recent studies suggest air pollution can also impact mental health, worker productivity, and even stock market performance.

According to the EPA studies have shown that human exposure to air pollutants indicates that indoor levels of pollutants may be two to five times and occasionally more than 100 times higher than outdoor levels. These levels of indoor air pollutants are of particular concern because most people spend about 90 percent of their time indoors.

Air pollution is the world’s largest single environmental health risk and it affects everyone. Poor indoor air quality can cause many different health issues. Air pollution has been linked to cardiovascular disease, asthma, pulmonary diseases, cancer, fertility problems, allergies, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, and more. The average person spends 90% of their time indoors. This is why breathing clean, healthy indoor air is so important. The EPA recommends protecting yourself from harmful indoor air pollutants when possible. For many reasons, we believe that our DFS technology is the most efficient and effective air cleaning technology on the market today. Our technology is proven to remove 99.99% of airborne particles at 0.007 µm in size.

Air purification is not just a reactionary investment – this is a simple misconception. By improving indoor air quality in your school, you’ll improve student health and focus. You will also be decreasing sick time and increasing productivity. Long-term health effects to building occupants will also improve with the permanent removal of dangerous ultrafine particles.

In response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, HealthWay® has conducted a series of tests to show the efficiency of DFS technology on the capture and permanent removal of airborne viruses and bacteria. World-renowned Infection Control expert and an advisor to the U.S. EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and the World Health Organization, Dr. Syed Sattar, conducted his studies in a chamber that was built to follow U.S. EPA guidelines.

DFS technology was proven to remove from the air a proxy virus for SARS-CoV-2 (RNA virus MS2)1: The results of this data show 99.987% elimination in 10 minutes of the surrogate which is 0.03 micron in size. The test also showed that there was 100% elimination in 45 minutes and again 100% at 24 hours indicating no reintroduction of the proxy virus. HealthWay® can't promise to prevent you from getting COVID-19. We recommend that you review COVID-19 related information from the CDC and other reliable resources for more information. Read a summary of the study here.