11–20 of 23 posts
We now only use evaporative humidifiers.
And of course, this guy has a video for this! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHeehYYgl28
I think the tone of this article is a bit alarmist but there is a truth here: ultrasonic humidifiers significantly increase measured PM2.5 particles in the air. PM2.5 is used here because they are tiny and will travel deeply into your lungs and can be absorbed into your bloodstream. Now, with respect to the _kind_ of particles that ultrasonic humidifiers put into the air... well it's whats in your water. If you have easy access to distilled water then ultrasonic humidifiers can be both efficient and you don't have to worry about particles.
I think there is some reason to believe that the particles in your water even if absorbed into your lungs are less likely to cause damage than say PM2.5 smog particles just from a comparative point of view.
As someone who used to get bronchitis from sinuses too often I both want to use a humidifier and also not worry about this sort of issue in the first place so for me it's just not worth evaluating the risk not that there is enough information to do so anyway.
My opinion is get a simple hot or cold evaporative humidifier, clean it regularly because you should be doing that anyway and move on. I think it's pretty useful to use a few drops of some water treatment as well since it will reduce bacterial and mineral buildup.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3922954/ > These results indicate that aerosol particles released from ultrasonic humidifiers operated with tap water initiated a cellular response but did not cause severe acute inflammation in pulmonary tissue. Additionally, high mineral content tap water is not recommended and de-mineralized water should be recommended in order to exclude any adverse effects.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/51859262_Indoor_par...
From 1991, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2014-08/documents/hu...
> Recent studies by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) have shown that ultrasonic and impeller (or "cool mist") humidifiers can disperse materials, such as microorganisms and minerals, from their water tanks into indoor air ... Breathing mist containing these pollutants has been implicated as causing a certain type of inflammation of the lungs. The Federal government has not concluded that the dispersal of minerals by home humidifiers poses a serious health risk. Nevertheless, using water with lower mineral content will reduce exposures to these materials.
Since 30 years have passed since the above statement, perhaps there have been more studies on the topic?
Is there a list of Ultrasonic Humidifiers anywhere so I can avoid them?
What makes you believe that what the article says is true?
My experience: can’t use an ultrasonic humidifier in this house, because it results in a huge amount particulate fallout. No way am I going to breathe in that amount of extremely fine dust. Might as well work in a marble quarry without a respirator mask.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebulizer
Would this warning also apply to them?
Yes. We recently moved up to a place with real winters, and I got a series of humidifiers. I run air quality sensors indoors (yes, multiple), and indeed the ultra sonic ones kicked up a CRAZY amount of PM2.5s, PM1s, and PM10s. We now only use evaporative humidifiers. And of course, this guy has a video for this! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHeehYYgl28
I'm just going to ask a dumb question: it's not just picking up the water, is it?
There are millions of people using nebulizers daily on the advice of their doctor. "They use oxygen, compressed air or ultrasonic power to break up solutions and suspensions into small aerosol droplets that are inhaled from the mouthpiece of the device. An aerosol is a mixture of gas and solid or liquid particles." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebulizer Would this warning also apply to them?
A nebuliser is a medical device that turns a known, regulated, controlled substance into particulates, which will be inhaled in a couple of seconds.
Ultrasonic humidifiers are unregulated consumer devices that turn whatever happens to be in the water into particulates, which will be inhaled long-term (days, months, years).
They use a rotating wheel and a fan to humidify the air. Most of the parts can be washed in the dishwasher so no replacement filters are required.