UV air purifiers in India, 2023

How UV air purification is different from UV water purification?

Many people believe it is safe as we do use the UV filtration for water purification. But please see how UV rays reacts in the water is different from air. Water is treated in closed container contrary to the open air. Moral of the story - water purification is different from air purification, just because we use UV filtration for water does not mean it is good for air purification. Read more about UV water purifier advantages and disadvantages.

Can HEPA filters filter bacteria and viruses?

• The most popular HEPA filters can only filter dust, mold, pollen and bacteria of size more than 0.25 micron or 0.3 micron. In other words HEPA filters cannot catch very small bacteria and viruses. Read more about HEPA filters.
• HEPA filters only catch or filter bacteria and viruses but cannot kill them. So it may happen that if filters container is not closed enough then bacteria once again enter the environment

Why UV air purifiers are bad?

Many brands target that as HEPA filters cannot kill bacterial use UV filter as add on. Either UV filters emit UV rays in air or on the collected dust and bacteria. Most of the cases UV filters are sold in combination with HEPA filter as gimmick or additional feature. But UV filters may not add additional value but can affects health as well.

• Many UV filters manufacturers do not mention the type of UV rays they use whether they are safe for human health.
• In the process of generating UV rays, UV filters tends to generate Ozone in the air. Ozone is very harmful for health which can cause lungs damage, asthma, chest congestion, breathing difficulties. Read more about ozone air purifiers.
• UV bulbs used in UV rays generation tends to be cheaper. In damage to it leads to mercury exposure which is very dangerous. Quartz air purifiers are good but extremely expensive.
• UV filter clean the very small area like a microwave oven size. When the brands says filters emit UV rays in the air and purify the water it looks hilarious.
• To emit the UV rays fully air flow should be very low. If you lower the airflow speed effectiveness of HEPA filters and CADR goes down making air purifier useless. So the overall effectiveness of HEPA + UV is questionable.

What are top UV air purifiers which needs to be avoided

These are the below air purifiers selected from the product description from the brands page, which says they use UV filters and needs to be avoided.

• Atlanta Healthcare Beta 350 Portable Room Air Purifier
• Moonbow AP-A8400UIN Portable Room Air Purifier
• Breathe Pur Ds01 Room Air Purifier
• Yuwell Ys300 Portable Room Air Purifier
• Eureka Forbes Mist Blue Me Portable Room Air Purifier
• Moonbow AP-A8608UIA Portable Compact Air Purifier
• Aire Fresco Max Plus Portable Room Air Purifier
• Breathe Pur DS01Blue Room Air Purifier