{"id":12664,"date":"2020-11-18T12:53:17","date_gmt":"2020-11-18T04:53:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/?p=12664"},"modified":"2021-03-10T15:16:44","modified_gmt":"2021-03-10T07:16:44","slug":"medical-grade-air-purifier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/blog\/medical-grade-air-purifier\/","title":{"rendered":"Medical-Grade Air Purifiers | The Real Deal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Medical-grade air purifiers and medical-grade HEPA filters are now everywhere. A google search for medical grade air purifier<\/strong> returns millions of results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"search<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

And here’s one company selling what it claims to be a medical-grade air purifier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"medify<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

But what actually is a medical grade air filter? Let’s find out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Medical Grade Air Purifier Standards<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In the US, the FDA that sets the standards for medical devices. Under the FDA standards, the FDA recommends<\/a> that air purifiers capture at least 99.99% of the claimed particulates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"FDA<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In other words, if a medical air purifier is marketed to filter SARS-CoV-2, then the FDA expects that purifier to filter out least 99.99% of SARS-COV-2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is important: <\/strong>a medical-grade purifier must be tested against the particle size or pathogen mentioned in the marketing. For example, take an air purifier that captures 99.99% of 1.0 micron particles. The seller can\u2019t advertise it as a medical grade purifier for protection against coronavirus (0.1 microns in size) in this case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion: medical-grade air purifiers should capture at least 99.99% of claimed particles<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Kind of HEPA Filter is ‘Medical Grade’?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are many different classes of HEPA filters. For example a H12 filter captures 99.5% of particles, and a H13 filter captures 99.95% of particles. What class of HEPA filter is medical grade? Many air purifier companies use the wording \u201cH13 medical grade filters.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"H13<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

But H13 filters only capture 99.95% of 0.3 micron particles, not the 99.99% the FDA recommends. So it’s possible these companies may be falsely advertising their filters as medical grade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is complicated. With companies calling their filters medical-grade but nothing to prove it, how can consumers looking to buy an air purifier find a reliable solution?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Real Way to Find Medical-Grade Air Purifiers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It turns out, the FDA has us covered for this as well, and the answer\u2019s surprisingly simple. The FDA keeps a list of certified medical-grade air purifiers.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"US<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

A searchable database<\/a> of all FDA approved medical devices is available for search. The FDA explains \u201cIf the manufacturer wishes to label the device for indications to prevent or treat a specific respiratory disease, the device is Class II and requires 510(k)\u201d. (Read their full explanation on medical purifiers here<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If companies aren’t in the FDA list, then they may be falsely advertising their air purifiers as medical-grade. So, be sure to check the list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not all Medical Grade Filters HAVE to reach 99.99%<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Note how the FDA uses the word “recommends”, when they mention the 99.99% standard. The FDA doesn\u2019t require that purifiers meet this filtration rate. What’s more, they\u2019re pretty up front that their recommendations aren\u2019t legally required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

A filter that captures just 50% of particles could potentially be certified medical-grade. It\u2019s up to the FDA to decide.<\/p>\n\n\n

Bottom Line<\/div>
Bottom Line: What Are Medical Grade Air Purifiers<\/div>
There’s no single standard for ‘medical grade’ purifiers. Don\u2019t be fooled by the marketing hype. Most companies don’t sell to hospitals, but use this name to make their purifier sound fancy.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re looking for an air purifier, it\u2019s best to select one that offers the best filtration rate, CADR, and price to filter your air \u2013 forget the words “medical grade.”<\/div>

Smart Air<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

How I Protect Myself<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smart Air is a certified B Corp<\/a> committed to combating the myths big companies use to inflate the price of clean air. Smart Air provides empirically backed<\/a>, no-nonsense purifiers and masks<\/a>, that remove the same particles as the big companies for a fraction of the cost. Only corporations benefit when clean air is a luxury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Smart<\/figure><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Medical-grade air purifiers and medical-grade HEPA filters are now everywhere. A google search for medical grade air purifier returns millions of results. And here’s one company selling what it claims to be a medical-grade air purifier. But what actually is a medical grade air filter? Let’s find out. Medical Grade … <\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12675,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[190],"tags":[649,283,650,648,646,647,455],"class_list":["post-12664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-air-purifiers","tag-air-filter","tag-air-purifier","tag-fda","tag-hospital","tag-medical","tag-medical-grade","tag-virus","resize-featured-image"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12664"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12664\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15402,"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12664\/revisions\/15402"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartairfilters.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}