Are Vacuum Cleaners Bad for Your Health?
No one likes to sniff the bad air at their places. The indoor living space must smell good and fresh, and to do that, vacuum cleaners have always been our best friends so far. However, according to some new studies, a few cleaners can get things worse by spitting dust back into the air.
So, are vacuum cleaners bad for your health? Well, this concern has been under debate for years. And today, we will find out the answer to it!
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Some Vacuum Cleaner Releases Germ and Bacteria Back Into the Air
By sucking up all the dust and dirt from your home surroundings with a high-pressure suction power, your vacuum cleaner makes the whole cleaning process faster and easier. However, researchers found out that the bacteria and germ sucked by the vacuum can be emitted back into the living environment again.
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You’ll see this as soon as you turn off the machine, and then witness how it pushes all the dust and dirt back into space though it’s less visible during this process. Thus, you need to invest a good model with a good air filter to downsize the levels of bacteria released back into the air.
For example, a vacuum with HEPA air filter just emits very low levels of dust than those which do not use that filter. So, your machine can diminish 99.9% of the bacteria, dust, pollen, and dander.
Your Safest Solution: Choose a Central Vacuum System
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Are you just ready to be more serious about cleaning up your living space? Pick up a central vacuum system first, which is linked to a long hose. It will blow away any dirt and dust out of your house via a vent on the wall. And then, you can collect them through a filter into the vacuum’s container.
So, are vacuum cleaners bad for your health? YES, but it happens only when you don’t invest in a good model! At this point, even a decent model is nothing without a great filter.
Good and Bad Air Filters
ULPA Filter
“ULPA” is a short name of the Ultra Low Penetration Air Filter, which is the most decent quality filter you could use. It comprises the endless fibers which altogether create a thick mat. Once the air flows through, the media is responsible for capturing all of the contaminant particles.
Although ULPA filter has been used mostly in big places such as museums and hospitals, you can still use it to block particles with a high-efficiency rate (99.999%).
HEPA Filter
Nobody likes the idea of vacuuming their home floors without feeling satisfied that they’ve made a healthy living space. Like the ULPA filter, a HEPA filter can block very small particles with a great efficiency rate (99.97%).
Nowadays, it’s easy to find the best budget vacuum cleaners with HEPA filter on the market. Most of them can trap every annoying particle on your floor, from mold to fungus, and then leave your home space as fresh as possible!
Microfilter
This filter can act as a barrier to other bacteria-sized particles, playing a crucial part of the whole filtration network of all vacuums. Though having the same design as the HEPA type, microfilter can’t satisfy the similar quality specs at all.
Non-HEPA Filter
They’re the lowest-quality filters when only trapping the particles as small as 50 micrometers, such as hair or dust mite. In other words, if you use this filter for your vacuum, the only thing you must concern is how the indoor air would influence your health badly.
Conclusion
So, are vacuum cleaners bad for your health? In fact, every vacuum usually sucks up more dirt and dust than they release back into the air. But if you’re using a model that seems to do more harms than goods; sure enough, it’s bad for your health. The best solution is to replace your old machine with the one equipped with a HEPA filter, or even better, a ULPA filter.
That’s all! If you have any question, feel free to leave your comment below. Thank you for reading!
