Prevention: Air Filters

Of all the tools in my allergy arsenal, the most powerful by far is my air filter. I've got a HEPA filter on my central heating, HEPA on my A/C, and a portable HEPA air purifier. You could perform open heart surgery in my house. Needless to say, I'm a fan of the HEPA filter.

Most allergens you're going to come into contact with are airborne. It's pollen and mold and dust and mites. Filters won't protect you from a nut allergy or from that stomachache from milk products, but otherwise an air filter is a great investment.

There are four basic classifications of air filters out there.

1) Mechanical. A mechanical filter will push air through a special mesh which traps airborne particulates. HEPA filters are generally mechanical filters.

2) Gas. A gas filter works by scrubbing air of bad smells and toxic gasses via the use of chemicals. You might have seen a gas filter being used in a HVAC system in commercial and industrial buildings.

3) Electrostatic. In theory, electricity is run through electrostatic precipitators (sometimes with a fan). The contaminants are electrically charged and then are electrostatic-ly attracted to the precipitators. You may have seen ionic filters before like the Ionic Breeze from Sharper Image (I'll have an article about that device next week).

4) Hybrids. Generally a hybrid filter is a combination of the electrostatic and mechanical filters.

Gas filters don't really remove common allergens and the electrostatic filter has a very suspect history, so my personal recommendation would be the use of mechanical filtration systems. My filters make the late summer/early fall months bearable.