24.05.2006

In order to protect the users from vacuum cleaner waste air and allergens, experts recommend HEPA filters (high efficiency particulate air filters). By means of those filters, dust mites and animal allergens shall be removed.

However, latest tests of Robin Gore, MD, and his colleagues at the university in Manchester that have been published in January 2006, show something completely different.

The current vacuum cleaner models with HEPA filter have been tested. The result shows that they couldn’t hold back allergens of dust mites, either.

The team of Mr. Gores carried out experiments with the latest models of Elektrolux, Hoover, Nilfisk, Miele und Stimvak, all of them equipped with HEPA filter. To be able to see the difference between old vacuum cleaners without HEPA filter and the new ones, a 10-year old model of Elektrolux was used as rival. The tests in a normal household have shown that systems with HEPA filter are not better than the old vacuum cleaner without HEPA filter.

Mr. Gore and his colleagues infer from this that there are no appreciable differences between old and new vacuum cleaners, all of them only raise dust and house dust allergens from carpets and thus produce little clouds of dust, to the chagrin of the occupants.

So they came to realize that vacuum cleaners with or without HEPA filter don’t make any differences regarding removal of allergens.

According to Mr. Gore, HEPA filters don’t have a perceptible advantage to get rid of dust mites and animal allergens, that’s why those filters shouldn’t be specially recommended to allergy sufferers.