The Dangers of Fine Dust, Ozone, Smog and Air Pollution

Why smog, ozone and air pollution is bad for your health and what you can do to protect yourself.

According to The New York Times, air pollution due to fine dust, ozone and smog have a much bigger influence on our daily lives than initially expected apart from various health issues that come along with polluted air. Some of these health issues are for instance:

• irritated respiratory systems
• reduced lung functions
• increased chance of asthma
• increased risk of cancer

Currently, many cities in China are suffering ozone and smog levels that are far higher than usually bearable for a human being, but also for mother nature. As stated in this article: In Anyang, Henan Province, the air quality index read 999 at 3 p.m. (which is three times as worse than in Beijing and so the top of the scale). In Handan, in Hebei Province, it wasn’t much better, here the air quality index read 822. And in the same province, the city of Shijiazhuang(a bit closer to Beijing) they registered 460.

By United States standards, anything above 300 is “hazardous,” meaning people should stay indoors. In the year 1999, the United States Environmental Protection Agency already warned about the hazardous effects of smog and ozone!

Apart from the negative health influences, further disruptions to our daily life and economic losses can be expected. It appears that Beijing’s mayor and his colleagues took the extraordinary step of issuing a red alert, which took effect Tuesday, as a rejoinder to widespread criticism of their inaction during the last bout of severe smog. “That occurred as Chinese leaders were arriving in Paris for the start of climate change talks on Nov. 30, and global news reports and photographs of the bad air were an embarrassment for officials”, Mr. Wang said.

Fine Dust & Air Pollution: What can be done to protect your Home and Work Space

In times of increasingly polluted living areas and urban spaces, it’s essential to clean the air we live in; outside but especially inside! By this, we can make sure to reduce the levels of fine dust and other air pollution in our work spaces, offices and also at home.

Probably contradictory to what most people might think, most of our exposure to environmental pollutants occurs by breathing the air indoors. Here, fine dust and pollution come from activities, products and materials we use every day. The air in our homes, schools and offices can be 2 to 5 times more polluted, and in some cases 100 times more polluted than outside!

People Spend 90 Percent of Their Time Inside

Therefore, indoor air quality is a significant concern, because when we add up the hours spent sleeping, working in our offices or at school, people spend on average the vast majority of their time indoors where they are repeatedly exposed to indoor air pollution and high levels of fine dust. Furthermore, it’s estimated that the average person receives 72 percent of their chemical exposure at home, which means that the very places most people consider the safest paradoxically exposes them to the greatest amounts of potentially very hazardous pollutants.

At AXP we believe that proper air purification represents a great solution to manage dangerous air pollution and protect our health. The EAS1300 air purifier is a patented innovation with a unique combination of air displacement and filtration. The product has an extremely high capacity and takes care of all kinds of pollution you can imagine. Research by TNO (an independent Dutch research institute) has shown that exposure to damaging components decreases with 99% in spaces where the EAS1300 is used. Thus, the air purifier is developed for intensely polluted areas and gets the job done!

Do you need advice or more information?

Make sure to take a look at our product page with air purifiers or read more about the air purifier in our extensive advice. Do you have any further questions or would you like some free advice? Call +31 20 6464028 or go directly to our range of air purifiers: