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The Nuance
Do You Really Need an Air Purifier?
What they can and can’t do, and why some air purifiers may come with risks
During the back half of the 19th century — a time when tuberculosis was widespread in smog-choked cities across the United States and Europe — fresh air was thought to be a potent elixir for diseases of the mind and body. This was the golden age of the spa town, and the unwell flocked to mountain, desert, or seaside resorts — often at the direction of their doctors — in order to recuperate in the clean, salubrious air.
Fresh air has since gone out of fashion as a primary form of medical treatment. But as vehicle traffic, factories, and seasonal wildfires spread pollutants across large swaths of the country and rates of asthma continue to rise, air purifiers have become a hot retail item. While research on the long-term health benefits of these devices is lacking, experts say they likely do some good — certainly for those who suffer from lung-related health problems and probably for everyone else too.
A 2011 review of the research on air filters and cleaners found that a range of these products — from whole house HVAC filters to portable single-room air purifiers — improved symptoms among people with asthma and allergy-related respiratory disease. “Airborne…
