Allergy and Asthma Wellness
Purifan BlogPoor Air Quality in Classrooms is Costing Medicaid Billions Back to the Blog We’ve all heard stories about dirty government politics and school funding. But this one takes the dirt to another level – all the way to the air in our children’s classrooms. Federal agencies have known for years that the air in government owned school buildings is unhealthy – and it’s costing taxpayers Billions of dollars each year that could be used for school funding. In fact, we might not even have a school budget crisis if our government would clean the air in our classrooms. How can this be? In a word, “Medicaid.” In a school with 550 students, almost 200 of them have their healthcare costs paid by Medicaid – which gets its funding from the same sources that fund our schools, Federal and State governments. And, it’s costing us a fortune – about $500,000 a year per school. If your school district has five elementary schools, two middle schools, and one high school – Medicaid costs are about $4 Million a year! So, what’s driving the cost? One major cost driver is respiratory illness. In fact, Asthma and allergies are the number one and number three chronic diseases among children. And, the quality of the air in your child’s classroom may play a role in aggravating the problem. Classrooms have very high levels of airborne particulates – such as mold, dust, animal dander, and pollen – all of which are major triggers for Asthma and allergies. This is a major cost factor for Medicaid – wasting tax dollars that could be used to...
Allergy and Asthma Wellness
Purifan BlogIs Dirty Classroom Air Wasting Precious School Funding? Back to the Blog We’ve all heard stories about dirty government politics and school funding. But this one takes the dirt to another level – all the way to the air in our children’s classrooms. Federal agencies have known for years that the air in government owned school buildings is unhealthy – and it’s costing taxpayers Billions of dollars each year that could be used for school funding. In fact, we might not even have a school budget crisis if our government would clean the air in our classrooms. How can this be? In a word, “Medicaid.” In a school with 550 students, almost 200 of them have their healthcare costs paid by Medicaid – which gets its funding from the same sources that fund our schools, Federal and State governments. And, it’s costing us a fortune – about $500,000 a year per school. If your school district has five elementary schools, two middle schools, and one high school – Medicaid costs are about $4 Million a year! So, what’s driving the cost? One major cost driver is respiratory illness. In fact, Asthma and allergies are the number one and number three chronic diseases among children. And, the quality of the air in your child’s classroom may play a role in aggravating the problem. Classrooms have very high levels of airborne particulates – such as mold, dust, animal dander, and pollen – all of which are major triggers for Asthma and allergies. This is a major cost factor for Medicaid – wasting tax dollars that could be used to...
Allergy and Asthma Wellness
Purifan BlogLove The Cat Hate The Asthma Back to the Blog Cat dander is one of the major triggers of Asthma. If you’ve got Asthma you know exactly what I mean – you’re fine when you’re out of the house, but the moment you get home you can feel the symptoms starting. Here are four tips to help make living with a cat easier when you have Asthma. 1. Reduce Cat Dander with an air purifier in your bedroom. You probably spend eight hours or more each day in your bedroom. This is the best place to use an air cleaner to reduce the airborne cat dander that you are currently breathing. 2. Don’t rely on a whole house Hepa filter. Your home’s HVAC system just doesn’t move enough air to sufficiently reduce airborne cat dander. A good quality HVAC system will filter the air about 7.5 times per hour with a standard filter, less with a Hepa filter. To reduce the presence of airborne cat dander, you need to filter all of the air in your bedroom 20 to 40 times per hour. 3. Don’t buy a portable floor or desktop air purifier. These types of products don’t move enough air either. And, the airflow pattern is usually obstructed by a bed, chairs, and other objects which means the air often circles back on the unit itself and only part of the air in the room is actually filtered. The Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM) rates portable air purifiers using a system called the Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR). A really high-end portable unit might have a...
Allergy and Asthma Wellness
Purifan BlogIs My Dog Giving Me Asthma? Back to the Blog Dander and pollen attached to a dog’s fur are major triggers of Asthma.If you’ve got Asthma and a dog you know exactly what I mean – you’re fine one minute, but the moment you’re around the dog you can feel the symptoms starting. Here are four tips to help make living with a dog easier when you have Asthma. 1. Reduce pet dander and other Asthma triggers with an air purifier in your bedroom. Even if the dog is restricted from your bedroom, pollen and dander are on your clothes and floating throughout the air of your home.Since you probably spend eight hours or more each day in your bedroom, this is the best place to use an air cleaner to reduce the airborne Asthma triggers that you are currently breathing. 2. Don’t rely on a whole house Hepa filter. Your home’s HVAC system just doesn’t move enough air to sufficiently reduce airborne dog dander. A good quality HVAC system will filter the air about 7.5 times per hour with a standard filter, less with a Hepa filter. To reduce the presence of airborne Asthma triggers, you need to filter all of the air in your bedroom 20 to 40 times per hour. 3. Don’t buy a portable floor or desktop air purifier. These types of products don’t move enough air either. And, the airflow pattern is usually obstructed by a bed, chairs, and other objects which means the air often circles back on the unit itself and only part of the air in the room is actually...
Allergy and Asthma Wellness
Purifan BlogIs Your Air Purifier Safe? Back to the Blog Headaches, sore throat, coughing, Asthma attacks, and difficulty breathing are a few of the symptoms that can be brought on by some air purifiers. Yes, that’s right. Your air purifier may actually aggravate many of the health issues you hoped it would solve. Fortunately, all air purifiers do not cause these difficulties and some do work as advertised. But, how do you know the difference? Let’s take a look at what makes some kinds of air purifiers work wonders for your health and well-being while others can be unsafe. Purifan has been selling safe and effective air purifiers since 1998. To find out more about the benefits that Purifans can provide your home or business, click on the link that best suits your situation. Learn more about Purifans for homes, school classrooms, office areas, waiting rooms, hair and nail salons, nursing homes, daycares, restaurants, bars and clubs, cigar bars, fitness centers, pet stores, liquor stores, retail stores, convenience stores, and anyplace you want to filter and deodorize air to make it healthier for employees, customers, visitors, school children or teachers. Discover How Purifan Works Types of air purifiers Before we consider the merits of air purifiers, let’s look at the many varieties in the market today. The number of them can be mind numbing at times, and, each seems to make one claim after another. To help sort through it all, I’ve simplified the problem by categorizing them into groups based on the technology they use – noting that some air purifiers use multiple technologies in their design and cross these...
Allergy and Asthma Wellness
Purifan BlogVeterans Clubs Save Thousands by Installing Patented Smoke and Odor Solution Back to the Blog Veterans clubs, like the American Legion, VFW and social clubs like Eagles, Elks, have found that cleaning up the smoke and odor in their facility can have a big impact on member participation. More people attend for social hour in the bar or for a casual lunch or dinner in clubs with dining facilities. During big events, like dances and ceremonies, the smoking and non-smoking members appreciate the impact of the ceiling-mounted Purifans on reducing the negative impact of smoke and odors. The Purifan Smoke and Odor Solution is rarely the first smoke removal system these lodges and posts have purchased, but it is almost always the last system they ever have to buy. The reason is that most prior purchases were electrostatic air purifiers costing thousands of dollars. These units have many negatives including using a lot of electricity, requiring regular expensive cleaning of the collection plates, and very noisy operation that disrupts the customers ability to have a conversation. The number one problem with electrostatic designs is they have a very shot life and are usually replace every 24 to 36 months, adding substantially to their long term costs. Many times the collection plates would spark loudly sounding like a bug zapper, forcing them to be shot off due to these noise complaints. Collection plates degrade rapidly because of cleaning processes used and within 12 months they performance of the electrostatic smoke removal system is substantially degraded. This degraded collection problem is made much worse because most dealers who are engaged...
Allergy and Asthma Wellness
Purifan BlogPTO PTA Healthy Classroom Air Project Back to the Blog PTO and PTA Groups are searching for school improvement projects that will make a difference. One of the newest project ideas is cleaning up the air quality in elementary school classrooms. The potential benefits include all of the following: Fewer student sick days from respiratory infections. One school documented 61% fewer sick days. Lowering the use of daily allergy medications which have negative side effects. Reduced use of expensive rescue inhalers at school. Schools documented a 70% reduction. Reduced teacher sick days by 50% and reduced their healthcare costs. One teacher reported stopping medical treatments saving $600 per month. Fewer sick days, and less use of mind-numbing allergy medicines produce higher test scores on standardized tests. PTO and PTA groups can go after funding from families, their employers and other sources in their communities who want to help schools make all of these exciting improvements that last for year after year once the classrooms are equipped with these powerful air purifiers. The number one reason PTO and PTA groups should want to install Purifans in classrooms is to reduce the number of days their child is sick and misses school. This often causes one of the parents to miss work, and can cost a lot of money in the cost for doctor office visits, medical tests, prescriptions, over the counter medications and daily allergy or asthma medications. A school building with fewer IAQ problems than the exampe above should also see a reduction sick days for both students and teachers if classroom air purifiers are installed. In the...
Allergy and Asthma Wellness
Purifan BlogHow Clean Air in Elementary School Classrooms Benefits Students and Parents Back to the Blog If you’re looking for a way to help your child’s allergies, asthma, school attendance and test scores, consider improving the air they breathe all day at school. Why is Classroom Air Quality so Important? Allergens and particulates get carried into classrooms every day on students’ clothing, backpacks, hair, skin and shoes. For example, children who have pets at home inadvertently bring the dander into class, which becomes part of the classroom dust. On most days, there are more particulates in the air indoors than outdoors! When students breathe in all these particles, it triggers respiratory illnesses and issues with allergies and asthma. This can require treatment with expensive medications that make learning difficult. It can also cause students to miss school, which means they’re missing out on learning. How Clean Classroom Air Helps Students and Families Fewer Missed School Days Cleaning the air in the classroom has been shown to reduce student absences due to respiratory infections. In fact, one school documented 61% fewer sick days! Improved Test Scores More time in class means more time to learn, so there’s a direct relationship between improving attendance and increasing test scores. Less Sick Days for Parents When a student stays home sick from school, a parent usually has to miss work to care for the child. This is not only an inconvenience, it can cost a lot of money for things like doctor visits, tests, prescriptions and over-the-counter medications. If the parent doesn’t have sick leave or they’ve used it all for repeated sick...
Allergy and Asthma Wellness
Purifan BlogIs a 2,000% Financial Rate of Return Possible in One Year in One Classroom? Back to the Blog So how many sick days might be saved in a single 180 day school year in a single classroom with 22 students and 1 teacher. Absenteeism is typically reported annually by each school building. You can go to the state’s reporting website to get prior years absentee rates. The number of student sick days is usually directly related to the school’s level of classroom air quality. A high rate of attendance is 98%, typical is 96% and poor can be as low as 90-92%. Calculating the Savings Potential of Fewer Sick Days Assuming 23 people in the classroom there are 4,140 total attendance days in a 180 day school year. Each 1% missed is 41.40 missed school days. Most are from illness, but some will be extended family trips for weddings, funerals or other events. The vast majority will be caused by a respiratory related illness or a contagious classroom illness. So a 2% improvement in attendance from say 94.5% to 96.5% at a school would mean each 22 students, plus the classroom teacher would have a combined 83.8 fewer missed school days. That saves an estimated $25,170 since the government’s best estimate of the cost to the family, employer and insurance provide is $300 per missed day for an elementary student. This $300 takes into account the number of families where both parents work, and a sick day means the mom or dad has to miss work to care for the sick child. It includes the cost of over...
Allergy and Asthma Wellness
Purifan BlogHow Schools Benefit from Clean Air in Elementary Classrooms Back to the Blog According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), more than half the schools in the United States have poor indoor air quality. Older buildings can have hidden mold issues, and even the air in newer schools can have more allergens, pet dander and other particulates than the air outside. This can have a negative impact on students’ performance on daily work and standardized tests, and affect the health of everyone in the building. Teachers, administrators and school boards who want to boost student test scores should consider improving the indoor air quality of their elementary schools. The Solution: Purifan Air Filters Purifan is a powerful, ceiling-mounted air filter that quietly cleans the air 40 times every hour. Schools who have installed them have seen the air particles in classrooms reduced by as much as 100%! Learn more about how Purifans work, or shop online for classroom bundles. Improved Student Attendance Schools that have improved their indoor air quality have seen the average number of student sick days reduced by as much as 11 per year. With fewer irritants and allergens in the air, fewer children were missing school for respiratory issues, allergies, and asthma. Fewer Medications for Students Reducing allergens and particulates in the air also reduced the need for students to use rescue inhalers and daily allergy medicines at school. These medications can be expensive for parents, a liability for schools, and make it difficult for children to concentrate in class. One nurse’s office actually recorded a 70% drop in inhaler use in the first...
