Wildfire Clean-up: VOC Air Purifiers

The Los Angeles Wildfires that swept through Southern California, The Palisades Fire in Pacific Palisades and Eaton Fire in Altadena are one of the worst natural disasters in California history. The Palisades Fire and Eaton Fire were among the most destructive wildfires in history, which is causing a major Environmental Hazard to health. In total there were wildfires in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura counties, which affects many residents in the surrounding areas.

The Southern California wildfires burned over 57,000 acres of land, destroyed over 18,000 homes, business, and structures. The wildfires also claimed 29 lives.

Southern California Wildfire Clean-up

Southern California Wildfire Clean-up has begun; this is being done in two phases by the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) or US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Phase 1: Household Hazardous Waste Removal
Phase 1 will be removing all visible household hazardous waste, which is Toxic materials like mercury, lead, arsenic and asbestos that remains under heavy debris and mixed into ash and soil.

Phase 2: Debris Removal
Phase 2 will be the assessment of Asbestos and removal. More complete details are listed on the CalRecylce website here. 

The Federal Government has decided to not do any soil testing at contaminated sites, once all toxic debris is cleared and removed. This leaves many residents unsure and uneasy about the clean-up process. Not testing soil for hazardous waste will pose a health risk for years to come, especially for Vapor Intrusion in the future.

Best Air Purifiers for Wildfire VOCs

Residents of Southern California and beyond will be at risk for contaminated air, potentially for years to come. With debris removal and rebuilding, Los Angeles and surrounding counties will be exposed to many toxic airborne contaminants from Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), Dioxins, Asbestos and ash particles, all which pose major health risks.

AllerAir air purifiers with Vocarb carbon blend is very effective at removing VOCs, chemicals, fumes and odors. Environmental Consultants have been using AllerAir Air Purifiers with the Vocarb blend at many sites to deal with Vapor Intrusion for years. 

The Best VOC Air Purifiers will need to have the ability to filter larger particles, finer partials, as well as VOCs, chemicals, fumes and odors. Air Purifiers should have a good amount of Activated Carbon, as this is the best filtration media available to filter hazardous contaminants in the air.

AllerAir manufactures a full line of Air Purifiers with Vocarb carbon filter for hard to filter VOCs

Recommended VOC Air Purifiers

The key to protecting the air inside your home is to filter the full volume of air. Air Purifiers are rated for filtration coverage. Homes with multiple levels and rooms will require more than one air purifier to filter all the air inside your home.

The AirMed 1 Supreme Vocarb (170 CFM) is a small portable unit with 3 stages of filtration like a full size air purifier. The AirMed is ideal for smaller areas like Bedrooms.

The AirMedic Pro 5 HD Vocarb (400 CFM) is a full size air purifier that can filter between 500 to 750 Sq Ft with constant source of contamination.

The AirMedic Pro 6 Ultra Vocarb (560 CFM) is the largest air purifier with the largest carbon filter, with the most amount of activated carbon. This air cleaner can filter between 750 Sq Ft to 1200 Sq Ft with constant source of contamination.

The Vocarb carbon blend does not contain any additives.

AllerAir does offer over 40 Carbon Blends, as well as additives to the carbon, such as Potassium Permanganate KMnO4 to help the carbon adsorb VOCs at a better capacity, we don’t recommend this to people who are sensitive, as an additive to activated carbon does have a very strong potential to off-gas when the carbon gets saturated, also from our experience people who are sensitive do not tolerate additives to carbon.

Need help choosing an air purifier, we can assist you with how many air purifiers would be needed for your home, as well as answer questions on the best way to use AllerAir Purifiers.