Hi everybody, it’s Fujikawa 🙂 I’m going talk about air purifiers today, after learning about how the haze has been plaguing Singapore and Malaysia recently. I didn’t know much about it until I heard about it from my colleague, Roger. In fact, the haze doesn’t only affect the neighbouring countries, but also travelers and businessmen traveling to the region.

The haze comes from Indonesian islands, from the burning of fields and forests, releasing smoke, gases and particles that spread to the surrounding countries, including Singapore and Malaysia. The haze and smell of burning usually comes between May and October.

(via https://wwj.world/)
The Merlion looks best with clear skies. I think she is a little sad ><

As the haze gets more severe, measures need to be taken, which include:

+ mouth rinsing, hand washing
+ bathing, showering
+ putting on mask
+ use of air moisturiser, air purifier
+ minimise outdoor activity.

PSI/API and PM ratings

The severity of the pollution of the air is measured by PSI (used in Singapore) and API (used in Malaysia).

PSI ratings include the density of sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO), Ozone (O3), particulate matter (PM10), with the recent addition of microscoptic matter (PM2.5) density as a parameter for measurement.

In fact, the pollution from China that caused problems in Japan in the 2000s also contained the PM2.5 pollutants. These particles are less than 2.5μm in size, which are so small that they can enter and do damage to our respiratory systems and circulatory organs. Health problems will then follow.

(On the left, the diameter of hair. The middle one is the size of pollen. The last one on the right is the size of a PM2.5 particle.)

How PM2.5 Affects Health

Effects from short-term exposure
Sore throats, sore eyes, Itch, Runny nose, Sneezing, Short of breath, Emphysema etc

Effects from long-term exposure
Heart attacks, Short of breath, Emphysema, Increase in risk of lung cancer

To prevent these health problems from the haze, we will also need to learn how to protect ourselves from PM2.5 too. In Japan, we do not have products that deal with the haze, but instead use products that can filter PM2.5 particles, often marked ”PM2.5対応” (PM2.5 support) on the products.

Choosing PM2.5 Support air purifiers? Go for these!

I believe a lot of people use air purifiers. It’s the same in Japan, where PM2.5 Support air purifiers are irreplaceable. When picking a Japanese air purifier, looking out for whether the air purifier has a HEPA filter may be a good place to start. The HEPA filter is able to catch 99.97% of particles of 0.3μm size, which is the pinnacle for a domestic air purifier. It is great for catching those PM2.5 particles.

Looking at Amazon.jp’s ranking, these are the products that use HEPA that we’d recommend!

SHARP

Most of SHARP’s air purifiers use HEPA filter (except the KC series).

Humidifying Air Purifier KI-EX55-W, KI-FX55-W
Size: W392 x D265 x H635 mm
Recommended Room Size: 25 m2
HEPA filter expiry period: 10 years
Anti-bacterial function: Plasmacluster-25000

Humidifying Air Purifier KI-EX75-W, KI-FX75, KI-GX75
Size: W410 x D306 x H643 mm
Recommended Room Size: 33 m2
HEPA filter expiry period: 10 years
Anti-bacterial function: Plasmacluster-25000

HITACHI

Clean Cleair EP-LVG70
Size: W380 x D254 x H669 mm
Recommended Room Size: 31 m2
HEPA filter expiry period: 10 years

Cleair EP-LVG110
Size: W360 x D291 x H673 mm
Recommended Room Size: 36 m2
HEPA filter expiry period: 10 years

PANASONIC

Humidifying Air Purifier F-VXL40, F-VXM40
Size: W360 x D200 x H560 mm
Recommended Room Size: 17 m2
Filter expiry period: 5 years
Anti-bacterial function: Nanoe

Humidifying Air Purifier F-VXM70
Size: W388 x D245 x H636 mm
Recommended Room Size: 31 m2
Filter expiry period: 10 years
Anti-bacterial function: Nanoe

(via https://monomania.sblo.jp/)

Recently there has been new air purifiers being release, making it difficult to choose among them. (My family might have chosen something just based on price and design ><) Be it against haze or PM2.5 particles, I would suggest everyone to choose based on the kind of filter in the air purifier. May we see the end of the haze problem one day, so that everyone can see Merlion’s smile again J

With that, thank you for reading till the end!

(feature photo via wikipedia)