Re: Cheese cloth filter?

[Guest guest]

No, cheese cloth is definitely not enough to do much more than catch some dirt.

It won't filter out the particles that go deeply into your lungs

practically at all. The smallest particles are the ones you need to

worry about. The smaller. the more likely they are to get somewhere

they can hurt you, and also, one study at least shows strongly, the

more likely to be toxic. Fungal Fragments are often also highly

irritating and inflammatory.

The worst particles are often fungal fragments..smaller than many

spores, sometimes even smaller than the traps used to trap the big

spores, and also too small to identify microscopically.. (One would

need to anaylse their DNA to tell what kind of mold species they are

from)

They are far smaller than ALMOST ALL furnace and MANY " air cleaner "

filters (if it doesn't say " HEPA " you know that it probably wont stop

the dangerous ones... although it may reduce the VISIBLE dust in your

home- compared to no filter at all!)

The inherent problem with filters is that they MUST let air through in

order to work. But the particles that hurt you the worst are SO small,

far smaller than the width of a human hair that its hard to make a

filter that will filter them out effectively and STILL let air

through.

That is why good air cleaners have to have fairly powerful motors. Its

mechanically hard to pull any real volume of air through a good

filter. It takes a lot of energy.

As far as a window fan goes, your best shot may just be to reduce the

amount of street dirt and grime without preventing the flow of

relatively fresh (outdoor) air into your apartment substantially. If

your fan is designed for the load.

What kind of filter did they originally include with the window fan?

[Guest guest]

The original filter must be crap--it was some mesh polyester thing

that really did not seem like it would catch more than dust. The grit

and soot that comes in is smaller.

I have to say today I was in an apartment in Carnegie Mews an old

building on 56th street that has been updated downstairs. This was an

older apartment and some of the floor tiles had been replaced and some

had not (cheapish parquet floor tiles) suggesting to me there had once

been a leak of some kind. I smelled musty mold as soon as I walked in.

I was sitting there for an hour while the lady and my boyfriend were

feeling fine and my mouth was burning, I was flushed, and prickling

all over! How can they do it, sit there like there's no mold. I envy them.

I'm wondering--if they don't react and I react (she seemed perfectly

healthy!), then is it allergenic rather than poison mold? And besides

you supposedly can't smell poison mold (that's 's term for stachy).

I told her I was reacting and she opened the window and said, What can

I do? I don't want mold in my place.

But the place was permeated so I just said, Don't worry, its just

these old buildings are like that.

It was one of the moldier apartments in NY I've been in (no obvious

mold). The only place that felt okay was the tiled bathroom!