Clayton, IN -- (ReleaseWire) -- 05/15/2007 -- When it comes to air filtration and air quality, there are few commercially or residentially available systems that can rival HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filters and HEPA filtration systems. The difference is in what we can’t see—an ability to remove 99.97% of all airborne contaminants at .3 microns and smaller in the air—a performance that’s largely unmatched in non-HEPA equivalent systems.

“The HEPA difference makes all the difference when it comes to filtering particles from the air,” says Dave Hearn, President of PureAir Systems, Inc. “It’s important to look very closely at how an air filtration system is tested, because the smallest particles that pass through other systems are almost always caught by HEPA-based systems. And the smallest of particles are almost always the most potentially harmful to us.”

Obviously, the ability to remove virtually 100 percent of harmful respirable particles from the air offers cleaner, healthier indoor air quality. Less apparent to the average consumer is how filter efficiency ratings are determined—a critical distinction and difference between what initially might seem to be similar air filters and filtration systems

HEPA air filters are the only mechanical air filters tested and certified to meet a specific efficiency at a specific particle size. All HEPA air filters must meet a minimum efficiency of 99.97% at 0.3 microns—3 millionths of a meter. Non-HEPA filters are required to provide an efficiency rating, but not necessarily a rating that is based on particle size. Since many of the respirable particles that are harmful to us are usually less than 2 microns in size, it’s vital to know what size particles a filter removes from the air.

In fact, a filter that boasts 95 percent efficiency without a particle size measurement, may actually remove little, if any, of the harmful particles at 0.3 microns or fewer.

“HEPA filters are used in high-tech manufacturing, hospitals, and sterile clean rooms around the world.” Hearn added, “That’s the technology we bring to the table in our systems. That’s the technology I want protecting my family.”