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Yeah I noticed that when I clean my washing basket with a little bit of alcohol the VOC jumps from 200 to 20000 in a matter of minutes and doesn't go back to normal for a day or so.

Even though I don't even smell it. These sensors are just incredibly sensitive.

Another example: burning one candle increases PM 2.5 considerably and after blowing it out the wick gives a little wisp of smoke that makes it peak from a normal 1 to 50 or so.



I almost entirely stopped using candles after getting an air purifier with a particle and VOC monitoring sensor (Electrolux/AEG Pure A9).

It's very enlightening. Even a single push of spray deodorant releases a crazy amount of particles and makes the purifier go crazy for a short while.


Is that short burst of deodorant actually harmful or do the numbers just go up a lot?


It measures the amount of particles in the air, it doesn't analyse their content.

Just having an ultrasonic humidifier in the bedroom makes the PM25 counter jump from 1-2 to 200-250.


An ultrasonic humidifier turns whatever impure water you feed in into tiny aerosols, from which most of the water quickly evaporates, leaving even smaller aerosols behind. Those likely consist of soluble salts (likely not terribly harmful) and bacteria (possibly quite harmful).

I would avoid using them unless, perhaps, I ran the output through a filter. Or I would use an evaporative humidifier instead.


From the same site as this air purifier article:

"The case against ultrasonic humidifiers."

https://dynomight.net/humidifiers/


This! Don't use an ultrasonic humidifier unless you fill it with distilled water. Tap water will just create a ton of white dust everywhere.

If you absolutely need more humidity in your home, get something like the Venta LW45 which has a half-submerged rotating disk and blows air over the still wet surface. Works with tap water (requires regular cleaning and a special additive).


Alcohols are VOC's and many deodorants contain them. They are probably among the less harmful VOC's.




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