Allergy Standards: A Homeowner’s Guide

If particulates, gases, and aerosols floating in the air each had a color and someone could hand us a glass of it, we wouldn't drink it. Yet to live, we must continue to sip it all day long — 24 gallons per minute or 3,400 gallons of air a day. 

According to the World Health Organization, 99% of the world's population breathes poor-quality air. Heading indoors offers no protection: we spend 90% of our time in our homes, schools, offices, or on transport where, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, some pollutants are two to five times higher than typical outdoor concentrations. It's a recipe for illnesses and allergies, and studies have shown poor air quality also can negatively affect our productivity at work and school. 

John McKeon, CEO of Allergy Standards Ltd, international standards and certification body, spoke with us about how indoor air can trigger asthma and allergies and what homeowners can do about it. 

Why did you start Allergy Standards Ltd?

I'm an emergency room doc by training, but I'm an entrepreneur at heart. Currently, I'm an entrepreneur in residence at the Centre for Practice and Healthcare Innovation in the faculty of health sciences and a member of the Knowledge Transfer & Innovation Committee at Trinity College Dublin.

As a pediatric physician, I saw many patients whose asthma was triggered by allergens, and I was trying to help them avoid indoor trigger factors. There was a lot of confusion about which products to buy and a lot of unsubstantiated claims. Their parents would write down all the information, but they found it difficult to act on the knowledge despite wanting to be proactive. 

So, I thought we could develop an evidence-based third-party certification program based on sound science where we independently tested and labeled those products. They could be part of an overall healthy indoor air program and allergen reduction plan. 

What are allergies?

Allergies are when there's a disorder of the immune system where something that isn't normally going to be an injurious protein or a particle or an infectious agent, but your body interprets it as such and mounts a response to it. And that can trigger a whole inflammatory immune cascade.

While allergic reactions have a strong genetic disposition, there's a combination of your DNA, wiring, and environmental exposure. Many people are allergic to things like pollen, dust mites, mold, and formaldehyde in Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). Those allergens can trigger an asthma attack, whereby three things happen:

• The airways become narrow.
• The lung's lining thickens because the smooth muscle contracts.
• There are increased secretions. 

Contrary to popular thinking, people don't "grow out of allergies." We see a constellation of symptoms changing as we get older and our immune systems change. For example, some people could have a lot of eczema as a kid, and then that can maybe be allergic rhinitis when they get a bit older. As for "seasonal allergies," they are only seasonal in the way people react depending on what they're allergic to, whatever their particular trigger factor is. An "allergy season" for one person may not be for another. There isn't just one allergy season. 

What are in-home allergy and asthma triggers?

Biological triggers such as mold, environmental triggers such as pollens, pet dander, dust that come in from the outside, and particulates such as VOCs from items like furniture, carpets, paints, and candles continually off-gassing into the home. 

People need to understand what triggers their symptoms. Often, allergies are treated by patients and doctors as chronic conditions that need medication. There needs to be more education — which people sometimes skip over because they want to get quickly to a solution — and patient empowerment. As a society, it's not sustainable and cost-effective to treat people with medications and emergency room visits.

What do we do about the allergy triggers in the home?

The question should be, "how do we manage our lives well with allergies?" The answer must be found in source control. Know what you're allergic to. Where is that showing up in your daily workflow? Is there a mold issue in the house? What's the ventilation like? Are there allergy triggers in my bedroom? 

I maintain that we use a whole-house approach — washing your linens, your bedding, removing allergens, looking at cleaning products, looking at the "cozy culprits," like candles, and cooking. The latter are things that increase particulates in the indoor environment. Can they be avoided?

It's all about controlled burden. For allergens, just as we saw with covid, it's wearing face coverings and washing your hands and, then, it's ventilation: as much as you can, move the air and bring in clean air. There are obviously issues regarding heating and energy efficiency, and sometimes you aren't able to move the air or open windows, but once that's controlled, then filtration plays a role.

Before diving into the next question it's important to define what an air filter is.

What are air filters?

Air filters are the devices that are built into your home's HVAC system, which you normally have to change out every few months. They clean your HVAC system and can remove large particles such as dust mites, pollen, mold spores, and lint. Some air filters are HEP (High-Efficiency Particulate Air) filters and can filter out smaller particles like tobacco smoke, bacteria, and pet dander. 

An air purifier removes or neutralizes contaminants that a standard air filter cannot. Some can be installed in your HVAC's air handler, and some are portable. 

However, there needs to be more work done around these definitions. People think purification needs augmented technology like UV Light, oxidation, and plasma technologies. Generally, people bucket those in their minds. They purify the air as an ionic component, and an air filter is just a medium. And it can be expensive to pull all your air through media-based filtration.

The conversation really needs to be around the outcome. What's my outcome? My outcome is healthy air, which can probably be delivered in many ways. Ultimately, we're after healthier air with fewer contaminants in it.

Do air filters and air purifiers help with allergies?

Both air purifiers and air filters help with allergies, but it's not one size fits all. For instance, if your asthma allergies don't have an airborne trigger, an air purifier probably won't benefit you as much as if your allergies are triggered by an emotional or a stress response. It's about doing a bit of investigating and knowing what you are allergic to, and air filters can be part of your overall approach. And healthy indoor air is good for everybody, not just those with allergies or asthma.

How can consumers get educated to make the best decisions for themselves and their families?

Products need to be validated. Sometimes they don't work when you scale them up. Sometimes the air just isn't in the system long enough for it to have an impact or for the UV to clean bacteria. Some do work; some recirculate the air; some are portable. The takeaway is that the technology needs to be validated by a third party.

Allergy Standards Ltd. have a program, but many other good programs validate, such as the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM) and Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR). You have to A) validate that technology does what it says it does and B) it doesn't cause any unknown side effects. There can be downstream negative impacts, which you may not realize. For example, if you have an air cleaner with a HEPA filter, you don't want it to be throwing off ozone if you have asthma. That's a trigger.

Allergy Standards Ltd has developed an independently awarded, internationally recognized certification created by medical experts and rigorously tested by a certified lab. They educate retailers on creating Certified asthma & allergy friendly® homes, giving them the peace of mind to recommend the most suitable products. Over 60% of asthma and allergy sufferers find it difficult to choose appropriate products for their homes. The mark helps consumers make better buying decisions.

Examples of Certified asthma & allergy friendlyⓇ Products

There are many products other than air filters and purifiers that can help create a healthy home environment for those with asthma or allergies. Certified products include bedding, cleaning products, flooring, paints, insulation, vacuum cleaners, washing machines, and more. Here are a few examples of products that have gone through rigorous testing and achieved the Certified asthma & allergy friendly®mark:

Tarkett Lifetime Vinyl Sheet Floor

This flooring option is durable (waterproof and easy to clean), pet- and kid-friendly, and attractive. 

It's phthalate-free, and FloorScore certified, which means the Resilient Floor Covering Institute has tested the flooring to ensure that it complies with strict indoor air quality standards. The test includes checking for specific thresholds for formaldehyde and acetaldehyde, and other organic chemicals.

Owens Corning Pure Safety® High Performance Insulation

It's the world's first certified asthma & allergy friendly® insulation. The insulation is made of high-performance fiberglass and can be used in a home's interior walls, ceilings, floors and attics. It's mold, mildew and fire resistant and has been shown to reduce noise up to 50%. It is also UL Greenguard Gold certified for its low VOC emissions and is UL Validated Formaldehyde Free.

Dyson Humidifier

Fully sealed to HEPA H13 standards, the Dyson product filters out allergens, purifies the air, and projects humidified air out into the home. It automatically measures the humidity level in a space, working when and as you need it. Using UV light kills 99.9% of the bacteria in the water used in the system. It also features a deep clean cycle — engaged by a touch of a button — to keep mineral build-up at bay.

LG PuriCareAeroTowerAir Purifying Fan

The AeroTower™ has been scientifically proven to reduce exposure to allergens considerably. It comes with a True HEPA Filter, PM1.0 Sensor, Multi-Directional Purified Air Flow, Sleek tower design, and ThinQ App Integration. As part of the certification, allergen levels were monitored after us to ensure the allergens were removed by the device and not just redistributed.

Pure Zees Baby Mattress

The Pure Zees Baby Mattress is a waterproof infant mattress with an effective barrier to the passage of dust mites and cat dander making it allergy and asthma friendly - the first baby mattress in the world with this certification. It is breathable, easy to clean, and fire resistant without the need for harmful fire retardant chemicals. In addition, it contains no chemicals that are known to trigger asthma and allergy systems.