Mgt 103 Filtration

[michael edward badolato jr]

Household air has nearly the same pollutants as outside (Woodruff 1998 EPA) - referred to as the ambient (general surrounding) air - plus from sources in the house. Domination of olfactory nerves by the indoor load may disguise recognition of ambient pollution present at the same time.

Tightly closed - there is a minor amount of adsorption - surface cling of contaminants entering through narrow spaces - and a delay - so spikes of new combustion near the house are leveled out. The greater advantage may be ventilation to minimize buildup of contaminants originating inside. Either way - there is overwhelming influence from combustion byproducts in the ambient air.

With intolerance of the ambient air - the home may need to be tightly closed with fan driven ventilation through filtered intake. I have no specifics on how to design and install such a system - and as with a respirator - it can only be partially successful.

Outside of the house - including for exercise - such intolerance may require a respirator. I have found it possible to run in an N95 disposable respirator with an exhalation valve such as the Moldex 2300 - but not so wearing a respirator without a valve. All N95's I have tried were not satisfactory without modification. Please see Mgt 104 for details on customizing the Moldex 2300.

 

References

Mgt 104 Respirators: Particles and Adsorbed Hydrocarbons. mcsmultiplechemicalsensitivity.ning.com 2012

Moldex 2300. Grainger.com

Woodruff T.J. et al. (EPA). Public health implications of 1990 air toxic concentrations across the United States. Env H P 106;5:245-51 1998