Are air purifiers worth the cost? Well, you know, we all know that air pollution is harmful. According to the World Health Organization, 99% of the global population breeze air that exceeds safe limits. 99% of all of us. But what about the air inside your home where you’re supposed to be safe? And what about inside your child or grandchild’s school? That’s what I wanna focus on today. Now, the problem with indoor air pollution, well, you know, when we talk about air pollution, most people think about smoke stacks, car exhaust, or wildfires. Certainly here in California, we think about that a lot. But the truth is, your home could be a hotbed of invisible invaders. Now, the EPA warns that indoor pollutants can cause irritation in the eyes, nose, and throat that can result in headaches, dizziness, fatigue, and even long-term issues like respiratory disease, heart problems, and cancer.

 

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So what in the heck are these pollutants? So let’s discuss some of these forever chemicals in the air in your home. Where do they come from? Some of the obvious places that they come from that you’re probably not aware of is from cooking. Number two, candles. We’ve had podcasts dedicated to the issues of candles in our home for scented candles, air fresheners, air freshening devices. This actually produces endocrine disruptors, which are damaging not only to your lungs, but also damaging and disrupting to the hormones within your body. And we think nothing of them because of this pleasant scent. But these are really, really concerns. Volatile organic compounds from cleaning supplies, paints, and even the furniture that you’re sitting on. Most furniture in the United States, that has a fabric, has been sprayed, treated, or soaked with fire retardant chemicals. And these are constantly being leached from your furniture into the air around you.

 

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And all of these, sadly, we now are what are called forever chemicals, and they are endocrine disruptors. So just the act of sitting in your home or having a carpet in your home is exposing you to these pollutants that wouldn’t have existed 50 years ago. And don’t forget about pet dander, dust mites, and mold spores, or even airborne bacteria and viruses. Now, dust mites don’t get as much love or hate, I guess, as they should. Dust mites are a major cause of allergens in humans. Dust mites almost certainly in your mattresses, in your pillows, they’re almost certainly in your furniture. And they become airborne, and they, as the name implies, are very potent allergens. And they’re so microscopic that you really don’t see them with a naked eye, but it’s something that an air purifier could handle. Now, mold and mold spores obviously thrive in damp areas, like bathrooms, like kitchens, and certainly in basements.

 

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And they certainly thrive in damper areas of our environment. Now, I’ve had multiple discussions with environmental e- experts about just how dangerous or not dangerous mold is. Let me put it this way. When we used to have a vigorous, healthy microbiome, bacteria and fungi molds actually hate each other. They vie for the same food supply, carbon atoms. Most antibiotics, antibacterial compounds, are made from funguses and molds. Penicillin, of course, is the classic example, bread mold. So bacteria have great ways of handling mold. On the other hand, if you don’t have a healthy microbiome to handle these mold, then that’s when it can become a problem. And I’ve been impressed with mycotoxin testing in my patients that a great number of my patients are sensitive and are exposed to mold in their home. So it’s something that we do have to take under consideration because we don’t have a good defense mechanism against mold spores like we used to.

 

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Here’s the other problem. We don’t like pests. We don’t like cockroaches. We don’t like ants. We don’t like spiders in our homes. And many people spray insecticides both in their home and outside their home. Many people have home pest control people that spray routinely to control these pests without understanding that these pesticides linger and these pesticides become airborne. And these pesticides are also incredibly damaging to our nervous system. You probably recently heard about the recent study showing the incidence of Parkinson’s disease is incredibly high in people who live within a mile and a half of a golf course. Now, think about your neighborhood for a moment. The odds are you live remarkably close to a golf course, even if you don’t live on a golf course. One of my offices, as many of you know, is in Palm Springs, California, which the greater Palm Springs area has 120 golf courses.

 

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It’s mecca for golfers, but living on a golf course takes its toll. Sadly, I see so many patients who live on a golf course who have developed either Parkinson’s, other movement disorders, or Alzheimer’s. And when we look at their environmental toxins, these pesticides, insecticides, herbicides show up in high concentrations in their bloodstream. So if you live near these places, it’s all the more important to make your home your sanctuary from exposure to these airborne pollutants. So how do you do that? Well, an air purifier is the way to go, but not all air purifiers are the same. Now, the best ones contain what are called HEPA filters. High efficiency particulate air filtration. That’s what HEPA stands for. Now, think of a HEPA filter like a super fine, uh, sieve. Now it’s designed to capture 99.97% of particles as small as 0.3 microns. Things like dust, things like pollen, mold spores, and many bacteria.

 

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Now, within HEPA filters, there are different grades. The most common in consumer products are HEPA-13 and HEPA-14. So HEPA-13 captures about 99.95% of particles down to 0.3 microns. It’s extremely efficient while still allowing good airflow. You know, and that makes it a strong choice for everyday use. The HEPA-14 gets about 99.995% of particles down to 0.3, 0.3 microns. It’s got an even tighter weave designed to trap the tiniest, most harmful pollutants, like ultrafine particles like smoke and viruses, but it can create more resistance to airflow. So there’s a balance. In simple terms, the HEPA-13 is excellent. HEPA-14 is ultra-high precision. Now, both are considered medical grade and are far superior to the standard air filters you find in the big box stores. And if you add an activated carbon filter, you can also capture these VOCs and odors. And that’s where we start to see a big difference in air, indoor air quality.

 

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Okay, so how about the evidence? Do they actually make a difference? Do they work? Well, a meta-analysis found kids with asthma had 24% less airway resistance when purifiers ran overnight. Now, it’s not about your lungs either. A Johns Hopkins study found that people with COPD, uh, COPD is chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

 

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You see that advertised on TV every night about this various inhalers or miracle products that allow people to allow, have normal lives. These are people with COPD. People with COPD who used a HEPA+ carbon filter saw a 25% increase in heart rate variability. Now, heart rate variability is something I measure on all of my measuring devices like an Oura Ring, like a Whoop band. And in general, a higher heart rate variability corresponds to a better long-term health outcome. So you want higher heart rate variability. It also is a good way of predicting how hard your heart’s working. And what we see in my patients with COPD is their heart, particularly their right ventricle, the ventricle that pumps blood to the lungs, actually has a very hard time pumping blood through the lungs in people with COPD. So what this study shows is people who were using a HEPA filter plus carbon filter increase their heart rate variability by 25%, which quite frankly, is a huge amount just by getting this filter in their home.

 

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So are they worth it? Well, unfortunately, given the impact of our homes are now definitely more polluted than the outside, in many cases, and if you’re living on or near a golf course, the evidence is unfortunately overwhelming that you’re being bombarded with things like insecticides, like pesticides, like herbicides that you do not want in your body. A high quality air purifier is absolutely worth it. It’s like choosing healthy food or prioritizing good sleep. It’s just another layer of support for overall health. I’ll give you an example. Part of my, uh, training in, uh, pediatric heart surgery, I spent a year in London, England in the mid 1980s. That was when coal was consi- was used for all electricity and all the cars, all the taxis are running on diesel. And I can tell you it was a common occurrence for us to blow our noses multiple times a day, and literally soot came out of them.

 

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And so it’s not that bad, but the problem was we could see that soot. We knew how bad it was. Now, most of the things that we’re encountering, except for wildfire smoke, we can’t see. And even after the wildfires are gone, we now know that many of us, particularly where there’s been a fire, live in a toxic environment with these compounds leaching now out of the ground, and it’s invisible, but that’s why you need one of these devices. So what do you look for again? Look for a true HEPA filter, not HEPA-like. Ideally, a HEPA-13 or a 14 for medical grade protection of the smallest particles. Choose filters with microban technology. Now, this helps prevent bacteria and mold growth right on the filter, keeping it cleaner and safer for longer. Now, make sure it has an activated carbon filter for VOCs and other gases. Now, check this CDR rating.

 

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That means clean air delivery rate and match it to the size of your room. The other thing, your filter shouldn’t drive you crazy with the noise. Check for quiet operations so that you can run it all day. Now, stick with the reputable brands that share testing data and certifications. Now, a purifier is certainly better than no purifier. If an air filter is cost prohibitive, check with your state or local government for programs. Believe it or not, some states will often provide a free air purifier for you. So is one filter good enough? Well, as I always say, and when I’ve had my experts on the program, if you can only afford one good quality air filter, put it in the room where you’re going to spend the most time. That means, in general, it’s your bedroom. Now, if you’ve got great outdoor air quality, do what my wife’s mother did or made her do.

 

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Open the window at night. Again, we have worse air pollution in our homes than we do outside. So my wife to this day, now in our mid- 70s, still has to open the window at night because her mother made her. And it’s not a bad idea unless you live near a golf course. If you spend a lot of time in the kitchen, family room, great room, that’s another place to keep an air filter. If you’ve got kids, don’t depend that they get to sleep in your bedroom and you get the air purifier. Get the kids an air purifier too. Prioritize. Again, nobody can afford too many of these. If you can, great. Put them in all these rooms. But bedroom first, great room, family room, kitchen, second, where you spend the most time. Also, something to think about is how much coverage are you gonna get?

 

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If you have an open design, like a kitchen, dining room, living room, a bedroom air filter is not gonna do the job, and it’s not going to cover the entire room. Just like a window air conditioner may not work for an entire room, same way with a filter. So make sure you pair your filter choice with the room you’re trying to keep clean. The other thing that’s important is most of us, when we think about air purifiers, think about nuisance symptoms, then that’s why we’re getting an air purifier. Look, you know, like obvious, itchy eyes, sneezing, coughing, headaches, fatigue. Now, these are common, and that should be a warning sign that somethings needs to be fixed in your house. But the real threat comes from invisible toxins and these various organic compounds that we can’t see and we may not feel. You know, I’ve often talked about leaky gut, but a subject that needs more discussion is leaky lung.

 

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Just like we know that there are compounds that can damage the wall of our gut, which is only one cell thick, I can tell you as a heart and lung surgeon, that the lung is also the lining of all these alveoli is also one cell thick. And so what happens at the surface of our breathing apparatus is exactly the same thing that’s happening in the wall of our gut. And so we know that these pollutants can damage the wall of our lungs and cause leaky lung. Now, will you feel that? Unfortunately, you may not, and this builds up over time. We’re seeing now a huge epidemic of cancers of the lung that didn’t exist 50 years ago. And these are in people who do not smoke, who have not been exposed to smoke. Women in particular, and it’s called alveolar cell carcinoma. This did not exist.

 

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Where is it coming from? We have to suspect it’s from these environmental pollutants that we were never exposed to 50 years ago. That’s why even if we can’t smell it, even if we can’t sense it, we’ve got to be aware that something has radically changed in our environment. So an air purifier is a great way of making a healthy home, just like you’re cooking healthy food, just like you’re making healthy choices for your family. When outdoor air is good, keep your windows open. Please choose non-toxic cleaners and try to reduce indoor air pollution like using gas stoves. Now, just like you make conscious choices for everything else, breath matters too, in ways that unfortunately, most of us probably don’t feel. Every step you take towards cleaner air is a step towards a longer, healthier life.