Does COVID Mean I Should Get An Air Purifier?

For years, an assortment of fly-by-night brands on Amazon have been peddling so-called HEPA air purifiers. Without knowing anything about their efficacy or even what HEPA stands for, the whole market seemed like snake oil. How else could you explain the nonsense names of what Amazon identifies as the leading brands? RIGOGLIOSO, JINPUS, ASLOTUS, to name a few. (My favorite is a clever brand called “THE THREE MUSKETEERS III M,” a patently obvious attempt to capitalize on the credibility of the U.S. company 3M.)

Now that we are told to live in constant fear of a flying, unseeable virus, it seems like a good as time as any to revisit these machines. Do they actually work? For most of 2020, that question was purely academic; air purifiers flew off the digital shelves at a such a clip that you could not have gotten one even if you wanted to. But now that supply chains have stabilized to a degree, it is worth asking if air purifiers are worth the investment.

In theory, these HEPA-filtered devices remove 99.97% of particles from the air. However, despite what you’ve heard from scaremongers, you are unlikely to contract COVID from stray particles just floating around. If someone in your household has the coronavirus, you are likely to get it from being in contact with them. The quality of the air is unlikely to affect that one way or the other. Furthermore, even though an air purifier removes particles from the air, it does not kill them. This could make cleaning out the filter especially dangerous, as you are guaranteed to come into contact with whatever it picked up. If you’re like me, this all sound like much more trouble than it’s worth.

Intelabe HEPA Air Purifier Air Filter with Fragrance Sponge Air Cleaner Eliminate Smoke, Dust,Pollen, Dander Air Purifiers for Home, Bedroom, Living Room, Kitchen and Office — $43.99

Look, if you want to waste $50 on some OEM Chinese air purifier for the peace of mind, like the one pictured above, I am not going to stop you. Just do not get bamboozled by the companies trying to price gouge you in the current climate. For example, there is no reason on earth that anyone should spend $800 for the Molekule Air:

Molekule Air Large Room Air Purifier with PECO Technology for Allergens, Pollutants, Viruses, Bacteria, and Mold, Silver — $799

I get that it looks cool. But if you buy it, you have to realize that what you are really getting is an art installation.