The air you breathe every day may be threatening the health of your heart, leading to the formation of plaque that blocks arteries. You inhale roughly; 1 liter of air with each breath along with 70,000 particles. Less than one half of one percent of those particles are visible. By sheer number, about 90% of all airborne particles are smaller than 0.1 microns called ultrafine particles. Viruses are also ultrafine particles. The small size of ultrafine particles enables them to be easily inhaled, deposited into the lungs and absorbed into the blood. They have been linked to heart attacks, strokes, asthma and even cancer. Ordinary air filtration systems, even HEPA filters only filter particles larger than 0.3 microns. Researchers have found that when you inhale polluted air, your immune system responds by setting off an inflammatory process that leads to artery blockages threatening the heart. By simply breathing cleaner air, you may be able to lower your risk of this dangerous development.
When the air you breathe continually contains very fine particulate matter, white blood cells move out of your bone marrow and into the bloodstream where they collect in the circulatory system and in fat tissue. There they release chemicals which lead to inflammation, which in turn encourages arterial plaque, which we all know creates blockages which eventually can cut off blood flow to your heart.
Researchers at two medical schools (New York University School of Medicine and Mount Sinai School of Medicine) found that exposure to polluted air can increase plaque formation by at least 150%. Combined with a high fat diet, breathing polluted air presents a special danger to heart health. They found measurable changes in plaque production and artery inflammation following exposure to fine particulate matter in polluted air.
In addition, polluted air compromises your immune system. Polluted air causes cellular activity that leads to cardiovascular disease because it causes an immune response that is out of control. Normal immune response if beneficial because it expels or destroys pathogens and invading microbes that can cause disease. But pollution causes excessive inflammation. This abnormal immune response can lead to blocked blood vessels and weight gain and diabetes.
Basically polluted air stimulates inflammation in the lung tissue which spill over into the body’s circulation causing vascular dysfunction.
What this means to you is that you need to avoid dirty air. We used to think air pollution was a problem primarily affecting the lungs. Now we know it’s bad for the heart.
You are probably thinking, “well, I live in an area that is not known for bad air, so I don’t have anything to worry about. Not so fast…. Many of us spend up to 80%-to 90% of our time indoors, either at work or home, so any pollution I am exposed to is minimal”.
Well, I’m afraid I have some bad news for you. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says that indoor air can be 5 to 20 times MORE polluted than outdoor air, and in some cases, as much as 100 times more polluted.
So what is this pollution made up of, and where does it come from? Indoor air pollution is made up from a variety of items – pollen, mold spores, mildew, pet dander, skin particles, dust mite feces, smoke, chemicals from cleaning supplies, carpeting, furniture and other sources. Indoor air also carries germs, viruses and bacteria which lingers for a long time. Nearly all of these dangerous particulates are less than 1 micron in size, Particles this small are not stopped by conventional or HEPA filters.
So…what do you do about this hazard. If filters don’t get this stuff out of our air, what is the solution?
The solution is putting an ACTIVE air purifier in your home or office environment.
What is an ACTIVE air purifier? There are two types of devices that attempt to clean air. Passive and Active. Most are familiar with the filter based type which rely on drawing the air through a filter and blowing it out into the room with a small fan. The problem is that only the air that is drawn in through the filter is somewhat cleaned, and that is limited to only about 300 square feet of space, or a 17′ by 18′ room. These are PASSIVE filters.
In addition, only particles larger than 2-3 microns are trapped by most conventional filters.
An ACTIVE air purifier, on the other hand cleans the air by use of technology which uses combinations of ionization, UV-C light, and a technology such as Active Pure which is a variation of technology developed in conjunction with the space agency for use aboard the International Space Station. It does NOT rely on drawing air through a filter. Instead it sends “Scrubber” ions out into the air and seeks out pollutants. It causes particulates to clump together and fall out of the air. In this manner, an active air purifies brings the “solution to the pollution”. In addition, the Active Pure technology with the UV light kills 99.99% of all known germs, bacteria and viruses on surfaces.
An example of an active air purifier is the Fresh Air Purifier products available from Green Health Technologies. This unit, which many consider to be the best air purifier is an Active Pure technology system.. It has been laboratory tested by two major university and peer reviewed to kill germs, viruses and bacteria in the air and on surfaces such as doorknobs, table tops, counter tops, etc. This unit was used by the Pentagon to clean the air of pollution and other contaminants after the disaster of 9-11. It is a Certified Space Technology™ unit.
