The 3 best allergy air purifiers in 2023

Wherever you live, dust accumulates and settles on every surface in your home, from the living room to the bedroom, indoors and out. These microscopic particles are not just a cleaning problem: they can have negative effects on your respiratory system and trigger allergies. But what is dust made of?

A wide range of particles can be found in house dust: animal hair, mould spores, pollen, dust mites are the main allergens that constitute it, not to mention skin particles, residues linked to concrete wear, food waste, etc.

The components of dust are very light, which allows them to be suspended in the air of the room, at the slightest draught or movement of an object, person or animal.

Dust can be more or less harmful depending on its source. Carcinogenic toxins can be found in dust if it comes from major transport routes, old buildings (presence of lead or asbestos) or if the surrounding soil is polluted.

The people most vulnerable to this air pollution are children. They naturally tend to put their hands or objects to their mouths, which favours the ingestion of dust. It should be noted that children breathe 40 to 60 times per minute, twice as much as an adult. As a result, they constantly inhale many more air pollutants than adults.

There are a number of diseases related to dust inhalation, including
- silicosis (coal or shale dust),
- lead poisoning (lead dust),
- miller's and baker's cancer, carpenter's cancer (due to chronic inhalation of flour dust or fine sawdust and wood dust).

Finally, it is important to know that all these allergens can serve as a carrier for bacteria, microbes and viruses. Prolonged exposure to this indoor pollution is therefore not recommended, as it weakens your immune system and can trigger allergies and asthma attacks as a result of permanent inflammation of the bronchi.

The most common and ideal environments for dust mites are: bedding, upholstered furniture, carpeting, curtains and drapes. These organisms are 0.25 to 0.3 millimetres long, invisible to the naked eye, and float in the air when vacuumed, walked on or disturbed by bedding. Once airborne, they can be inhaled, ingested and trapped on your body.

They feed on dead human skin flakes, which are shed at a rate of 1.5 g per day and produce excrement up to 30 µm in size, which is coated with special proteins. Inhaling them or coming into contact with them will cause allergic reactions in many people.

Mites belong to the class Arachnida and have four pairs of legs. They are so small (0.3 mm) that we need a magnifying glass to see them. The mites visible to the naked eye are not the ones we find in our beds.

Their main source of food is the dead skin of humans and animals. Therefore, if you do not have a good solution for dust mites, they will remain in your home permanently.

Amazingly, one square centimetre of carpet can contain up to 100,000 mites and each mite can produce up to 20 droppings per day, yet it is the droppings and body parts released by mites that cause severe allergic symptoms.

Follow these steps if you want to know if your home is infested with dust mites:

Stage 1 You will need a magnifying glass to observe them. It is not necessary to have a powerful microscope, just find a device or lens that can magnify at least 10 times.

Step 2 Dust mites: Take a few samples of dust in your home with a piece of transparent tape. Dust mites are usually found in warm, damp places, especially if a large amount of dust is present, such as the corner of a room, under a chair or even directly on the fabric of a sofa. Dust mites can be obtained by collecting dust from old mattresses, pillows or blankets.

Step 3 Examine the samples for mites with a microscope: they are spider-like, so they have 8 legs, are translucent and have no eyes. You can also observe their droppings. They are in the form of small brown rectangular pellets.

Dust in our homes is made up of several components such as pet dander, skin cells, pet and human hair, tiny fibres, bacteria, food particles and dust mite parts and droppings.

A dust mite allergy involves an allergic reaction to dust mite particles, debris and waste. Although a mite is extremely small (it can only be seen under a microscope), it can produce nearly 200 times its own weight in faeces. The proteins in these droppings are allergy-inducing.

The symptoms of a dust mite allergy are as follows:
- A runny nose
- Itchy, watery or red eyes
- Sneezing, nasal congestion or runny nose
- Cough
- Pain and pressure in the face
- Itchy nose and throat
- Difficulty sleeping and puffy eyes
- Puffy, bluish skin under the eyes
- Rubbing of the nose, usually in children.

If a dust mite allergy persists and triggers asthma, a person may also experience the following symptoms
- A feeling of tightness or pain in the chest
- Difficulty breathing
- Wheezing
- Cough

The likelihood of developing a dust mite allergy may be increased by the following risk factors:
- It can be inherited from your family
- Early exposure to dust mites may increase the risk of developing an allergy later in life.

In addition to using air purifiers to reduce dust mites, there are these foolproof methods to eliminate them:
- Hot water (60° or more) kills dust mites.
- A humidity level below 40-50% is not a suitable environment for dust mites.
- Extreme cold also kills dust mites. Put your small items in plastic bags and then put them in the fridge to destroy the mites.
- Rubbing alcohol kills house dust mites.
- Using rubbing alcohol on a cloth is a quick way to clean areas where dust accumulates, such as light bulbs or electronics.
- Direct sunlight can kill these pests. Make sure your curtains are open so that direct sunlight can reach the whole room.

There are also sprays to kill dust mites. You can use these sprays directly on your bed and furniture. However, we do not recommend this solution, as their effect only lasts two weeks and it is very expensive to buy them for a whole house.