There has been a lot of talk about air purifiers over recent years, but are they necessary or even useful. Well, just take a big deep breath and repeat several times. What have you breathed in? The obvious answer is air, but what does that air contain. How about dust, carpet fibres, lint and, if you have pets, pet dander. Also depending on your local environment there could be many other chemicals in various traces.

It does not matter how much cleaning you do around the house there will be impurities in the air. In essence, the majority of dust particles in the home are made up from dead skin. It does not matter what you do you will have dust in your home. Also, as mentioned above, your local environment will determine the extent of impurities in the air. If you live next to a paint producing factory the quality of the local air will be vastly different to if you live next to a corn field.

All the impurities in the air can affect the health of individuals over a period of time. This is where air purifiers come in. An air purifier is a piece of kit that you set up to eradicate all those air impurities that can cause illness in many people. Air purifiers vary in price, like most things with the more expensive one generally better in quality. You can generally find a range of air purifiers at your local home improvement store.

At the cheapest end of the market, air purifiers use a filter to catch all the impure particles and then blow out cleaner air at the other end. They work in a similar way to air filters in cars. However, it is important to note that if the filter is not changed on a regular basis it can actually increase the impurities in the local air environment. Therefore, if you buy a cheaper air purifier you most remember to change the filter often.

The good news about more expensive air purifiers is that most don't use filters. There are no parts that need to be cleaned or replaced on a regular basis. The way these air purifiers work is by attaching ion particles to dust particles. This neutralises the impurities so you don't breath them in. The other good point about more expensive air purifiers is that they are silent. You can put in your living room and after a short while you will forget it is even there.

An alternative to standard air purifiers are air purifier ionisers. They work by creating negatively charged ions. These change the local atmosphere to that similar you feel near to a waterfall. These negative ions bond together with other particles in the air. This makes the particles heavier so they drop to the ground to be removed by vacuuming.

Air purifier ionisers are not without drawbacks though. The fact that the ions bind to other particles and drop to the floor means that you will need to vacuum your floor more often than you normally do. In addition, if you place the air purifier ioniser too close to a wall then the particles could bind to the wall instead of dropping to the floor. This creates a stain known as the 'black wall effect'. This stain can be difficult to wash away.

So you will appreciate that no matter where you live you should consider getting an air purifier. You don't want to have to keep putting up with breathing in all those impurities in the air. Air purifiers could help you improve your health.