The study found that the air inside buses with the new system was as clean as air near the beach in Santa Monica. An on-board air filtration system developed specifically for school buses reduces exposure to vehicular pollutants by up to 88 percent, according to a study by researchers at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. The high-efficiency cabin air, or HECA, system could help protect the 25 million American children who commute on school buses nearly every day. Children are more susceptible to air pollution than adults because they breathe more quickly and their immune and cardiovascular systems are still developing, said Yifang Zhu, the study’s senior author and an associate professor in the department of environmental health sciences. Pollution reduction was even greater under freeway driving conditions, which was surprising because freeways have particularly high pollutant concentrations due to traffic congestion and increased emissions. The study found that the air inside buses with the HECA system was as clean as air near the beach in Santa Monica, California.

The study appears today in the early online edition of the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Science and Technology. “During school bus commuting, children can be exposed to significantly greater levels of air pollutants than a typical resident in the South Coast air basin,” Zhu said. The South Coast air basin encompasses all of Orange County, California, and the non-desert regions of Los Angeles County, Riverside County, and San Bernardino County. “Studies have shown that exposure to high levels of vehicle pollution is associated with pulmonary and cardiovascular health risks, including oxidative stress, mitochondrial damage and acute pulmonary inflammation,” she said. Studies have also found that children exposed to pollutants from vehicles tend to perform less well in school. The new study tested six school buses without children on board while the buses were still, and while they were driving on freeways and major arterial roadways in Los Angeles.

Researchers tested the air both inside and outside of the buses for vehicle-emitted particulate matter, including black carbon and fine and ultrafine particles, down to a few nanometers in size. A study funded by the California Air Resources Board more than a decade ago was the first to find serious air quality problems inside diesel-powered school buses. air purifier for animal shelterThat study led to efforts to retrofit school buses with exterior pollution-reducing devices. central air purifier reviewsWhile that method is promising for minimizing emissions from buses’ tailpipes, it doesn’t always provide cleaner air inside the buses. where to buy rabbit air purifierA majority of school buses today are not equipped with any interior mechanical filtration systems, said Eon Lee, the study’s first author and a postdoctoral researcher in Zhu’s lab.

A previous study by Zhu and her team found that commercially available household air purifiers can reduce pollutant levels inside school buses by about 50 percent. However, they are not designed to work in moving vehicles. As part of the new study, researchers developed a prototype on-board HECA filtration system for buses and installed two in the rear of each of the six buses tested. Air was drawn in through diffusers on the sides of each unit and fed through the HECA filter. The filtered air was then delivered at a constant rate through air ducts. “School buses are by far the safest way to transport children between school and home,” Zhu said. “Our goal is to make it also the cleanest way.” A long-term follow-up study will evaluate how much exposure can be reduced by operating the HECA filtration system in a large number of school buses with children aboard, Zhu said. “The developed HECA filtration system has great potential to substantially reduce children’s exposure to vehicle pollutants while commuting inside school buses,” the study states.

The study was funded by the California Air Resources Board. The HECA filtration system was developed in collaboration with IQAir North America.I’ve had a sore throat and swollen glands for about two weeks now. I’ve had tests for strep and mono (negative) and also my immune system’s RH factors, white blood cell counts, are normal. The doctor says I have a virus and some viruses just take your body a few weeks to fight. I had a similar virus in January (the whole month!) As a normally healthy person, this is very frustrating! I moved to get away from a smoking neighbor, but the apartment where I’m living now allows smokers and, just my luck, several live next door to me. Smoke comes through the vents and under my front door. They smoke outside my window. I can smell it inside my apartment each time I come home right, when I open my apartment door. I think this is making me sick. Get a 20 inch box fan. The older models are better than new models in the stores because the old models are quieter and move less air.

The newer models sound like jet planes and move so much air it can be irritating. THe good part, there are millions of the old box fans in garages and basements all over the country. Buy the Allergen Filtrete 1000 furnace filter by 3M in the red and white wrapper. Use masking tape, or duct tape to tape the filter sealing the edge completely to the back of the fan, so the air is pulled thru the filter. If you attach the filter to the front of the fan very little air will pass through, and it puts a bad load on the motor. Run the fan on low 24 hrs. I have tested every model of filter. Only the Filtrete 1000 works. If you have cigarette smoke the 1000 rapidly turns grey, then coal black. Other Filtrete filters including the 700 model, or the 1200 utlra model stay white no matter how long you use them. The 1200 is supposed to be the top of the line, but it does not have the affinity for smoke particles like the 1000. I can buy the 1000 at Target, or Sears Home Hardware. Walmarts does not carry the 1000.

You can also get them on the net cheaper in quantity. 3M says the Filtrete lasts about 3 months. For us, a filter lasted about 4 weeks before it was black as coal and clogged with a mass of dust. You could tell it was spent because you would start to notice the cigarette scent again, and the fan would become louder due to the load. Putting in a new filter made a fast improvement in the smell. (Lasko Model 3900) is designed to handle the load a filter puts on a fan motor. I’m going to get this fan and this filter. I also now live near a freeway. After a good night’s sleep in my new place, my throat is actually worse! Since moving again is not an option, I’m going to attempt to health-ify my environment. I’ll start today by sealing off all the vents with plastic sheeting and duct tape (I’d rather be cold than sick.) See cautions about airflow, however…  My plan is to have a fan that brings  air in though a good filter on one side of the apartment and vent it out the other.

Is there ANY kind of filter can stop particulate matter, Trichloroethylene, Benzene, and Formaldehyde and the other nasty things in cigarette smoke? Here is a list of cancer causing agents and poisons from a cigarette: After that, house plants to remove the Trichloroethylene, Benzene, and Formaldehyde in my air from the freeway. The toxic gas formaldehyde is contained in building materials including carpeting, curtains, plywood, and adhesives. As it is emitted from these sources, it deteriorates the air quality, which can lead to “multiple chemical sensitivity” and “sick building syndrome”, medical conditions with symptoms such as allergies, asthma, and headaches. The prevalence of formaldehyde and other volatile organic compounds VOC is greater in new construction. Researchers are studying the ability of plants to reduce formaldehyde levels in the air. A study led by Kwang Jin Kim of Korea’s National Horticultural Research Institute compared the absorption rate of two types of houseplants.

The results of the experiment on Weeping Fig (Ficus benjamina) and Fatsia japonica, an evergreen shrub, were published in the Journal of American Society for Horticultural Science. During the study, equal amounts of formaldehyde were pumped into containers holding each type of plant in three configurations: whole, roots-only with the leafy portion cut off, and aerial-only, with the below-ground portion sealed off, leaving the stem and leaves exposed. The results showed the combined total of aerial-only and roots-only portions was similar to the amount removed by whole plants. Complete plants removed approximately 80% of the formaldehyde within 4 hours.Researchers consider microorganisms living among the soil and root system to be a major contributor to the reduction. Japonica were planted in larger pots than the ficus, which may account for the lower night reduction rate of the latter. More knowledge of the contributions of microorganisms is cited by the study to be important in further understanding the air purifying potential of plants.