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Re: CLEAN AIR AT HOME



At 12:13 2/11/01 -0500, Ludwik wrote:
/// a unit costing $ 2800 will keep the
entire home air clean at the maintenance cost of no more than
$30 per year (electric energy and replaceable parts).

The CAP unit is supposed to be very quiet (only 20W of
electric power) and is based on biological processing

<http://www.srebiotech.com>

Comments would be appreciated, especially from those who
have such units.

Ludwik Kowalski

CAP
employs proprietary biofiltration technology that has in
essence miniaturized the process of biological oxidation.
Using natural biological enzymes, the CAP destroys VOCs,
eliminates odors and removes particulates.

///CAP works naturally to
remove heavy metals and particulates from the air and destroy
odors, gases and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by
employing naturally occurring microbes and their enzymes to
break down contaminants to non-harmful compounds.


There appears to be something of an explosion in complaints
of allergic reactions. There are some more or less wild
suggestions as to why this is.

Samples:
1) Vaccines and other prophylactics used in childhood
have long latency side effects.
2) Subtle side effects of environmental chemicals have
allergic components.
3) Personal hygiene is now exercised at such a rigorous
level (daily shower or bath - multiple hand washing with
soap-multiple tooth brushing daily - application of energetic
detergents) that the antibody functionality is oversensitized
to rare challenges and may react on the normal body function.
There are numerous other possibilities.
4) Food additives mimic hormones. (five legged frogs,
six foot tall school girls....)
5) Growth hormones routinely added to animal feed by agribusiness
leak to the envirnment ( five legged frogs, etc., etc)

It is reasonable to suppose that allergic symptoms are not presently
well explained. This is fertile territory for nostrums and ju-ju.

If you accept this view, yet you wish to do something constructive
for a loved one, it seems sensible to consider a progression of
changes of increasing cost and effort to implement.

1) Vacuum floors daily. (I am enjoying a new cyclone style
vacuum cleaner. A transparent cover shows the animal hair, lint and
dust which it removes.)
2) Replace air conditioning air filters more often than monthly.
3) Purchase high efficiency air cleaner elements at premium prices.
4) Wash bed clothes frequently. Avoid softeners. Avoid perfumed soaps.
5) Dust with effective materials. Insist people remove shoes.
6) Remove carpet in favor of smooth floor covering.
7) Install an electrostatic air cleaner in the air conditioning duct.
8) Move house away from streets with busy traffic, especially
diesel trucks.
9) Move house away from locations with intensive jet aircraft operations.
10) Move house away from country locations where fields are
intensively sprayed. (Cotton country like Oklahoma or Texas receives
defoliant sprays preparatory to the harvest - shades of the Agent Orange
business...)
11) Move house away from intensive chemical processing installations
(like NJ?)
12) Move house away from forests of conifers (Recall Pres. Reagan's
famous observation on forest borne pollution?)

Folks who make a living of investigating allergies use chemical challenges
to assess the need.
You could do something of the kind, in an uncontrolled way, by applying
a sample of household materials to numerous band aids, and plastering them
on some inconspicuous body structure (an upper arm perhaps?) for a day.
House dust, soap, animal dander etc., etc. One looks for an inflamed
patch of skin at removal....

One could consider paddling in muddy streams, dirty camping trips and so on.

Costwise, the enzymatic filter approach seems to fit naturally around item
6) on the cost hierachy of remedies.

A worthy Science Fair project might involve bubbling room ambient air
through a liquid made with an enzyme additive washing powder, using some
controls like detergent liquid, antibacterial liquid and plain water.
The processed air streams might play on petri dishes with nuttrient media.
(I hasten to disclaim that reasonable conclusions could easily be drawn about
air borne allergens on this basis - if it were this easy, the hygiene industry
would be home and dry.)

I have considerable misgivings about hitting the send button on this note -
where's the physics? I expect I am missing some valuable biophysics
content. Oh well.


brian whatcott <inet@intellisys.net> Altus OK
Eureka!