How Sharp Air Purifiers Help to Reduce Mold In Your Home - TWICE - Twice
How Sharp Air Purifiers Help to Reduce Mold In Your Home - TWICE - Twice |
- How Sharp Air Purifiers Help to Reduce Mold In Your Home - TWICE - Twice
- Platypus Introduces An Ultralight Personal Filter, The QuickDraw MicroFilter System - SGB Media
- Local woman needs mold-free car and home to cope with illness - KPCnews.com
- Best water filter pitchers of 2020: Brita, Pur and more compared - CNET
| How Sharp Air Purifiers Help to Reduce Mold In Your Home - TWICE - Twice Posted: 29 Jul 2020 08:05 AM PDT  Mold. Just the utterance of the word can seize my nasal passages. I've got several airborne allergies, but my allergy to mold is the most severe. Seven years of allergy shots nearly cured most of my allergies, except the one to mold is strong as ever. For me, an allergic reaction can trigger an asthma event and have me reaching for my rescue inhaler, especially when sleeping. Having researched while writing this series of blogs, I decided to purchase the Sharp KC-850U Plasmacluster Air Purifier for my bedroom, and within a week, I was breathing freely. More on this later. MitigationAs much as possible, I've tried to remove the potential sources of mold from my home. I moved plastic bins around in my basement to find that moister somehow collected, and there was mold growing on the bottom. For years I've known to keep the gasket of my refrigerator squeaky clean, my bathrooms are as clean as I can see, wet towels are never put into the laundry basket, and I do my best to keep the basement clean. Honestly, I could spend every day looking for the source and would not ever find it. The majority of mold spores measure between 2 and 10 microns, only visible when viewed under a microscope. For comparison, a human hair is between 50–75 microns. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) puts a finer point on the issue stating that there are more than 200 species of fungi, or what is generically called mold or mildew that people are routinely exposed to indoors and outdoors. They estimate that up to 50 percent of the population has a sensitivity to mold. The presence of mold can cause health problems that affecting immune response. It would seem that keeping a clean house would be enough to be rid of mold, but it is particularly pesky because these fungi are part of the natural environment. Mold spores float in the air in search of a moist host to reproduce. In its Brief Guide to Mold, Moisture, and Your Home, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) states that it is impossible to get rid of all mold and mold spores indoors. That doesn't mean I won't give up trying. There are several intervention methods that you might not have considered to help mitigate the growth of mold.
Clean Air, Room-by-RoomThe EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) states that ensuring healthy Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) by minimizing indoor air pollutants is essential. Poor IAQ can have severe repercussions on an individual's health. Not every home has ductwork available to install a whole-house air filtration/purifying system, and even for those that do, it can be cost-prohibitive. This is where a portable in-room air purifier comes to the rescue. A Sharp in-room air purifier with a True HEPA filter captures up to 99.97% of allergens from the air that passes through the filter, measuring as small as 0.3 microns and larger. Not only does it capture mold spores, but you also benefit from capturing pollen, dust mites, pet dander, and bacteria. Building on what a True HEPA filter alone can accomplish is Sharp's patented Plasmacluster Ion (PCI) air purification technology. The Plasmacluster Ion technology mimics nature's cleaning process, by splitting water molecules into positively and negatively charged ions, which spread throughout the room and actively break down pollutants like germs, airborne and surface-adhering bacteria, fungus, mold, viruses and clinging odors, and then return to the air as water vapor. Seeing is believing; check out this video of how Sharp's Plasmacluster Ion technology reduced airborne mold by 79 percent in a test chamber.  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Platypus Introduces An Ultralight Personal Filter, The QuickDraw MicroFilter System - SGB Media Posted: 30 Jul 2020 10:58 AM PDT Seattle, WA, July 30, 2020 – Seattle based Platypus®, the leader in taste-free and durable hydration and filtration systems, introduces the QuickDraw™ Microfilter System, its first foray into the ultralight personal water filtration market. This premier filtration system is incredibly intuitive, simple to use, fast and durable. The QuickDraw™ will be available to consumers starting Spring 2021. The QuickDraw™ Microfilter uses a .2 micron hollow fiber cartridge to remove 99.9999% of bacteria and 99.9% of protozoa as required by the NSF P231 standard. This affordable filter is not only designed to keep users safe with its high-performance technology, it also offers a fantastic user experience. The QuickDraw™ is ready to go out of the box and features the sturdy, flip-to-open clean side cap design from the Platypus DuoLock bottle, a grippy-but-not-sticky filter cartridge over mold, and an easy-to-fill extra-wide mouth reservoir with a convenient handle. The dirty side cap creates a reliable seal to prevent any seepage, ensuring dirty water cannot contaminate the clean side or any belongings in a pack. To use the QuickDraw™ Microfilter System simply fill the reservoir to capacity, thread the dirty side of the filter cartridge into the reservoir, invert the system while positioning the spout over your clean reservoir, and squeeze. Unlike most comparable filtration systems, the QuickDraw user has the ability to quickly perform an integrity check should it be dropped or frozen to determine if it's still safe to use. It also features an easy shake-to-clean technique that allows the QuickDraw™ to maintain fast flow rates for the duration of its lifetime with no disassembly or back-flushing. In the end, it's the details—from the tiny to the critical—refined for the best user experience on the market that set the QuickDraw apart. The system comes with a dirty reservoir that is made of the same proprietary taste free and durable film as Platypus' award-winning hydration reservoirs. The filter is also compatible with multiple bottle types if users prefer other Platypus reservoirs, or even smartwater® bottles, a popular lightweight option amongst thru-hikers. Additionally, users can drink directly from its ergonomic drink spout, which may eliminate the need for a clean reservoir altogether. "The QuickDraw offers a solution to both long distance backpackers where 30 mile days require constant hydration, but demand a minimum pack weight, as well as a solution for the novice hiker looking for an easy, effective and affordable option," said Sarah Courtney, Cascade Designs' Category Manager – Snow and Water Products, "With the fill and squeeze solution, you reduce the weight and complexity of your filter as well as reduce the total water weight you need to carry." THE SPECS – QuickDraw™ Filtration System
The Platypus QuickDraw™ Microfilter System will launch to the public starting April 2, 2021. For more information about the QuickDraw™ Microfilter System and to see how it works, check out this video youtube.com/watch?v=Lxjl_Wv3JiY&feature=youtu.be. For more information about Platypus, please visit platy.com. About Platypus: Seattle-based Platypus brand has been the market leader in flexible and modular hydration products for over two decades, designing easy-to-use, taste free and durable products for optimum performance. Unmatched versatility and quality define Platypus's BPA-, BPS-, and phthalate-free bottles, hands-free reservoirs, hydration packs, and the pump-free, fast-flowing personal and group water filter systems. The majority of Platypus products are made in their U.S.A. and Ireland manufacturing facilities. For more information, visit platy.com.  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Local woman needs mold-free car and home to cope with illness - KPCnews.com Posted: 29 Jul 2020 09:00 PM PDT  Local woman needs mold-free car and home to cope with illness To the editor: I write hoping someone would assist providing a mold-free car and home. I'm native to Spencerville and Fort Wayne, moving to Chicago and Washington for ministry outreach and leadership. I flew back to Indiana from Seattle three years ago seeking help. Doctors couldn't solve my fainting in planes, misfiring of my nervous system, brain feeling on fire and body weakening. I've experienced blindness with over 15 eye surgeries, Lyme disease, more surgeries, etc. Finally, Dr. Helfgott discovered I was battling a mold illness called CIRS, Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome, and one of the causes to my issues was mold. We discovered mold was killing me in our Washington home. Praying for direction, we moved cross country continuing treatment with this specialist. Upon unloading boxes in our new place, we found black mold and reloaded the truck immediately, placed our things in storage and became homeless. My body collapsed further into sickness where I could not communicate well or cognitively grasp things, becoming almost fully bedridden for six months. Staying at a friends' home, jobless those months, allowed my husband to care for me as I fought to regain life. We tried remediating our belongings, yet each time I handled them, I became worse with constricted breathing. We realized we couldn't keep anything and had cross-contaminated things, too. We painfully lost most everything as a result, keeping our two vehicles. After months of searching for a home I could breathe in (without reactions), we conducted several ERMI mold tests and one home passed. We found a mobile home in Auburn, knowing it was only temporary, as it will eventually need replaced with a better-built home on a crawl space with extra features to help filter air and prevent water damage. On move-in day we bought three sets of new clothing and two towels. We then washed them at the local laundromat, and changed into one set, throwing away our last clothing from Washington. We entered this home, starting completely over, and Christ has been our strength through it all. While my health was rebuilding, my husband's declined; an odd cough turned into a quad bypass open heart surgery. He has recovered, though tires at times. I am no longer in bed full days recouping, Praise God! I'm able to play with grandkids, mentor a few with CIRS and other traumas, and am writing a book on sexual abuse now. However, reactions to mold in my car has set me back in these strides. I've been experiencing sickness when I enter my cars. I have asthma attacks and thieving of vitality from one due to chemicals off-gassing and can't tolerate being in it, ever since we purchased it. The other car now causes "mold hits" requiring wearing a mask, all windows down, depletes energy for days after use, restricts my breathing with chest pressure, new headaches and stomach ache, plus loss of sharpness and cognitive slowing is occurring. I am avoiding them to avoid sickness. To mentor and minister, get groceries and see family, I am seeking a mold-free low VOC car donated. I've visited car dealers unable to assist due to their recent COVID losses, but who've prayed for me. Programs and even Habitat for Humanity were approached, but since we have a place to stay, or can't receive used household items or gifts, we aren't eligible. Dietary restrictions, remediation protocols and limitations are my and my husband's life currently due to this illness. We hope someone would assist providing a mold-free car and home and pray health over each reading this. Thank you for your consideration. Renee Rivera Auburn  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Best water filter pitchers of 2020: Brita, Pur and more compared - CNET Posted: 30 Jul 2020 07:00 AM PDT A convenient and fast way to improve the taste and overall quality of your drinking water is to use a filtered pitcher. They're easy to use: just pour tap water into the pitcher and place it in the refrigerator while the water passes through the filter and into the main reservoir. Some pitchers take several minutes to filter water, while others only take about 30 seconds. Regardless, the best water filter pitcher will help remove some of the impurities in your regular tap water in relatively short order. I tested out seven top-rated pitchers, with prices ranging from $17 to $75. Each one has slightly different specs, but they all promise one thing: to make your drinking water better. Curious about the winner? Spoiler: It isn't Brita. Read more: Make free distilled water at home  The $35 ZeroWater ZP-010 is by far the best filtered water pitcher of the bunch. It's affordable, sturdy and it has a large 10-cup pitcher capacity and a water spigot, in addition to the standard pour spout. Your purchase comes with a two-pack of replacement filters and a total dissolved solids (TDS) water quality tester (I used a different TDS meter in my performance testing; I'll talk more about the test methodology in a bit). The ZP-010 removed the most TDS out of all seven pitchers (a whopping 93%), making it our top performer by far. A two-pack of replacement filters costs $30 and each one is supposed to last for up to 40 gallons. Brita and Pur, on the other hand, sell each of their filters for just $7 -- and claim to have the same 40-gallon filter life. That said, the ZP-010 was much more effective at removing TDS and the filter itself is much larger than any of the others I tested.  At $17, the Pur PPT700W Basic is the most affordable of the seven pitchers, making it the best budget option -- and a solid filtered water pitcher overall. With a smaller 7-cup water capacity and slimmer dimensions, the PPT700W Basic is also a good choice if you have limited fridge space. It comes with one filter, which is supposed to last for up to two months -- or 40 gallons of water. Replacement filters cost $7 each. It didn't perform as well as the ZeroWater model, but it still removed almost 15% of the TDS in my tap water.  I'll talk a bit more about alkaline water in my test section below, but in short, pH readings (measurements of how acidic or basic your water is) range from 0 to 14; 7 is a neutral reading. Despite conflicting research on the topic, some people attribute health benefits to more basic (or alkaline) water. As a result, select companies make water pitchers with filters that actually add nutrients as your tap water passes through. The $70 Seychelle pH20 pitcher I tested took my tap water from an already basic reading of 8.39 to 10.1, the largest increase out of the three alkaline pitchers in my test group. This pitcher uses two filters at a time, but they are supposed to last for up to 200 gallons. A two-pack of replacement filters costs $50.  Another alkaline water filter pitcher, the $53 Invigorated Water pH Vitality, also did a good job, increasing the pH of my tap water from 8.61 to 9.36. It's also the only nonplastic model I tested out of the seven pitchers. The Invigorated Water pitcher is made of stainless steel and wood and has an 8-cup capacity. It isn't a good option if you aren't interested in alkaline water, but its attractive design and lack of plastic are definite points in its favor. Also, instead of a standard filter, this pitcher has a unique filter pouch comprised of tiny balls designed to remove impurities while increasing the pH and adding minerals. One filter pouch costs $18 and is supposed to last for up to 105 gallons. Pitcher talk To get started, here's a list of the pitchers I tested:
And here's a more detailed overview of each model and its key specs: The specs
One key thing to consider from this chart is the estimated life of each pitcher filter versus its cost. The Brita 0B56, the Pur PPT700W and the ZeroWater ZP-010 all have a lower estimated filter life of up to 40 gallons. While the Brita and Pur models cost just $7 each, the ZeroWater filters cost $15 each (but are sold in a $30 two-pack).  Can you spot the ZeroWater filter? It's the one on the far right. Megan Wollerton/CNETBut as you can see in the picture above, the ZeroWater filter on the far right is massive compared to the others. Of course, that doesn't automatically translate to better performance, but in this case -- the ZeroWater filter did massively outperform the others. ZeroWater also claims its has a five-stage filter that's supposed to be better at removing particles while preventing mold from growing with use. (Keep in mind that filter life will vary based on the quality of your tap water and, essentially, how much your filter has to "work" to remove impurities.) How we testTo test these water filter pitchers, I washed each one with mild soap and water -- and followed the individual manufacturer instructions for soaking, rinsing or otherwise prepping each filter for use. Then I filled a marked mason jar glass with 16 ounces of tap water and used an Orapxi water quality tester to measure and note the pH and the TDS present. While the results of my tap water varied slightly each time I filled a fresh glass with 16 ounces, the pH of my tap water always read between 8.15 and 8.61 and the TDS always read between 149 and 161 ppm, or parts per million. (Read more about TDS, or total dissolved solids, here and here.) Then I poured all 16 ounces into a water filter pitcher, waited for it to filter all the water, poured it into a new glass and took the readings again. For the nonalkaline pitchers, you should expect to see a drop in both the pH and in the TDS readings, as impurities and other minerals are removed from the water. I repeated these steps a total of three times on each of the seven pitchers.  I used this Oraxpi water quality tester to measure pH and TDS. Megan Wollerton/CNETThe three alkaline water filter pitchers I tested -- the Clearly Filtered, Invigorated Water pH Vitality and Seychelle pH20 -- actually saw an increase in both the pH and the TDS, since they're designed to add minerals to your water. TDS meters are not sophisticated enough to decipher which impurities, nutrients and other minerals each filter manages to remove (or add, in the case of the alkaline pitchers). For that reason, measuring TDS alone as an indicator of water quality has some limitations. But, in general, for a standard filtered water pitcher, we want to see a decrease in the TDS reading. Examples of the most common total dissolved solids include "calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, bicarbonate, sulfate, chloride, nitrate, and silica," according to the US Geological Survey. Here's a table of my test results. The data represents an average of three test runs for each filter pitcher. Test results
The ZeroWater ZP-010 managed to reduce the total dissolved solids in my tap water by a staggering 93%, from an average initial TDS reading of 159 ppm to just 11 ppm. The Brita 0B58 Lake pitcher came in second place with over 26% reduction in TDS. As you'd expect, the Clearly Filtered, Invigorated Water pH Vitality and Seychelle pH20 all saw an increase in pH and in TDS. Read more: Best shower head of 2020 Taste was a bit trickier to measure, but every pitcher did help reduce the slight metallic taste of my tap water. Unsurprisingly, the ZeroWater model tasted the best to me, with no metallic taste or scent. Overall, the ZeroWater ZP-010 made my job pretty easy here -- it completely dominated in terms of removing TDS and also happened to have the sturdiest design with the bonus addition of a water spigot. But there are other good options here -- the Pur PPT700W is a great budget pitcher that also saves space with its slimmer design; the Seychelle pH20 is the best pitcher if you want alkaline water -- and the Invigorated Water pH Vitality is a solid option if you want to avoid plastic (and want alkaline water). One major takeaway for me was just how widely filtered water pitchers can vary, both in terms of performance -- and even in terms of their key their function, as in the case of the alkaline pitchers. As long as you identify your needs before you buy, you're bound to find the right filtered water pitcher for you. Read more: Best air purifiers for 2020  |
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