Blog Tag: preventative health care

The WW II generation is almost gone from this planet and the Vietnam era baby boomers are now retiring. The WW II generation was mostly responsible for the age of manufacturing in the US and the baby boomers brought the age of technology to the world. For the most part, manufacturing has been transferred to other countries and technology in all its forms is now the booming industry in America. Throw in the new age of AI and you begin to see an emergence of the new America. 

With the ability for many young people to make a living using digital technology, whether from an office of their home, there is little incentive to get into the trades or any type of manual labor, including the service sector. As a result, you are seeing a major shift from the older, more traditional work for a company for 40 years to work for 20 companies for 40 years, including working for themselves.

This shift is creating employment challenges for retail, the service sector and the trades. It is, in fact, the reason you are seeing so many restaurants go out of business and many retail store chains are either consolidating or shutting down, to the chagrin of the older generation. This transition has not yet hit its stride. By 2030, the industrial revolution as we know it will be replaced by Robotics, AI, Additive Manufacturing, working from home and a shift to fewer or no children in marriages. 

Pure Air Systems was founded in 1985 and is now one of three companies in the world that produces high end, commercial grade, fan powered HEPA based filtration systems. Initially, the first systems used the older, induction motors and then progressed to the Variable speed drive motors and now the new programmable VS motors. The use of analog controls have been replaced with digital controllers producing systems that can be matted to computer controlled operations.

For more information on the complete line of HEPA and Carbon based air filtration systems, please go to our website at:  http://www.pureairsystems.com    or call us on our toll free number at; 800-869-8025.

The New Horizon’s space capsule cameras took some great pictures of Pluto’s mountainous surface and the NASA faithful were ecstatic.  If memory serves me correctly Pluto was originally one of the nine planets, including earth, closest to the sun. Then the scientists said Pluto was too small to be a planet so they unplaneted the planet and called it a moon. Now, Pluto is back in the spotlight after a billion mile journey from one of NASA’s probes took lots of pictures, including a selfie if I’m not mistaken, of this far away place that has, for all intent and purposes, absolutely no effect on the daily lives of us mere mortals.

Businesses are often like Pluto. One day they are the talk of the town and mentioned in conjunction with other elite company’s and then the next day they are gone from discussion. This doesn’t mean the company is out of business just that it’s name is not thrust into the public’s eye every day. Like Pluto they only matter when they do something relevant.

Pure Air Systems was formed in 1985 and was one of the first companies to offer true commercial grade, HEPA based air filtration systems with powerful blower/motors and digital controllers for residential, commercial and industrial applications. They hit the market at a time when HEPA filters were just becoming known to the general public and started to compete with the older filtration technologies like electronic air cleaners, UV Lights and electrostatic air filters.

Unlike these filters, HEPA filters are very restrictive and require a prefilter in front of them to take out the larger 20 plus micron sized particles. The HEPA will remove all the particles below 20 microns down to less than .012 microns. Because of the unique nature of HEPA filters they are the primary filtration device used in surgery rooms, clean rooms, micro-chip manufacturing, optical glass manufacturing, isolation rooms in hospitals and clinics, electronic manufacturing and most medical and chemical laboratories in the world.

 Over time HEPA filters became more common and the public became more comfortable with their use and application. HEPA systems are more expensive so when the economy turned down company’s and the public stopped buying these units and used the lesser expensive filter systems. Even though the challenges with “hard to treat” bacteria that are now a real challenge to our health system, HEPA systems were not really considered until just recently and, like Pluto, the market now has a  new reason to look at HEPA filtration systems.

For more information on the complete line of HEPA and Carbon based air filtration systems please go to our website at: https://www.pureairsystems.com or call us anytime on our toll-free number at:  800-869-8025.

Using 3D Printers has been a practice of mine for the past two years and I have learned a lot about the technology and the capabilities of this new process. For the under $3,000.00 range, the printers are fairly simple to operate and many of then can now print in over 25 different materials and not just plastics. We can print in brass, bronze, copper, wood, ceramic, nylon, conductive, magnetic, flexible, poly carbonate, carbon fiber and the new graphene materials.  It seems every day a new material is added to the list.

Of course there are other types of printers, those that use resin or powder and some can print with metal. These are the high end printers that range from $15,000.00 to over $500.000.00. But those machines are getting less expensive so maybe in two years they will be under $20,000.00 and available for small business operations. In the meantime we use the more common printers.

The Z gap is the distance from the bottom of the printing nozzle to the surface of the build platform. For most machines this setting in done manually and it is a little challenging to get that distance set just right. It takes practice and patience and is critical to the overall finish of the end product.

Pure Air Systems has been manufacturing HEPA and Carbon based, fan powered, commercial grade systems since 1985 and has learned how to set the gap between price, performance, execution and customer need. It is always a balancing game when you are trying to look at the needs of the customer and the bottom line of the business. Many times you purchase another one of a product you purchased years ago only to find out the next version is not made as well and has a reduced performance and life compared to the original. This is often the case when a small, family run, operation is purchased by a larger, publicly held company. The gap is often compromised in favor of the bottom line and not the customer.

PAS has been around for 30 years because it knows the value of keeping their customers happy and providing a consistently well engineered systems that continue to meet or exceed the needs of their customers.

For more information on the complete line of HEPA and Carbon based filtration systems please go to our website at:  http:.//www.pureairsystems.com or call them on their toll-free line at: 800-860-8025.

One of the major problems with the transfer of viruses and bacteria from human to human is…human contact. This type of contact exists every second of every day everywhere, with the possible exception of monks in Tibet. And, because humans are the greatest carriers of communicable diseases it is only natural to accept the fact that separation and/or elimination of contact will greatly diminish this transfer of pathogens from person to person.

Unfortunately this is not going to happen anytime soon as it is impossible to operate in a human void. It is with this understanding that I discuss the aspect of offering some revised air filtration system designs to help reduce the levels of airborne particulate and pathogens so as to minimize the transfer of viruses and bacteria from person to person.

Air Curtain HEPA Filtration Laminar Flow Systems. No acronym for this one. This device can create a laminar air flow curtain..top to bottom, for a opening like area such as those used in Pharmacies, Dr. Offices, Entry Windows in Public Offices, Wound Care, Room Isolation and anywhere you can separate people from other people with HEPA filtered air effectively.

One of the reasons this type of device is becoming more appealing is the rapid rise in infections that are more difficult and more expensive to treat than ever before. In addition, the lack of any development of new antibiotics creates a sense of urgency in finding ways to prevent the spread of disease ( at almost any cost ) rather than try to treat it once it is present in the body. Not only is treatment expensive, but often not totally effective is curing the disease. Sometimes there are other collateral damage issues to the body and in many cases death is the result of the disease transfer.

The Ebola issue is one that, while very deadly, is mostly isolated to a few small areas of the world. However, even a small number of infected traveling to other countries undetected can create a major medical emergency of grande proportions. The other issue is one of social demographics. Those individuals of lower income or with little or no access to continual health care are the most at risk and interestingly the ones who make more contact with other people during normal hours. Restaurant help is one area where most of the servers and cooks are in the lower wage category and are most likely to come in contact with large numbers of people in very small, crowded areas.

School children that are in the free lunch programs often are not seeing any medical professionals on a regular basis and again they are coming in contact with hundreds of students a day and then those students go home to see their respective families. Kind of a viral virus program.

More information on this type of HEPA Air Curtain product can be found at the following website: https://www.pureairsystems.com or by contacting this author at: donmusilli@gmail.com. You can also call Pure Air Systems at their toll free number: 800-869-8025.

My Grandparents used a lot of old cliche’s and sayings when I was a young man and some of those come to memory when a situation arises that links to one of their “words of wisdom” comments. My Father used to say “never make the same mistake twice and never take anything for granted.” On many occasions I found myself thinking about those words when I realized I had fallen prey to one or both of those tenants.

Pure Air Systems has been manufacturing commercial grade, certified HEPA based air filtration systems for the commercial, institutional, industrial, medical and residential markets since 1985. For over 28 years PAS has been providing systems that remove over 99.99% of all airborne contaminants at or below 0.3 microns in size. Within this size range falls all types of bacteria and viruses. The removal and/or reduction of these airborne allergens and pathogens is critical in maintaining a safe environment for not only healthy individuals but more importantly for those individuals with significant poor health conditions.

One of the main challenges facing the medical community today is dealing with infections caused by certain types and strains of bacteria. One of the virulent strains is MRSA or Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus. This strain of bacteria is very difficult to treat and in many cases it has been the primary cause of limb removal or death. Since most bacteria range in size from 1 to 10 microns ( your hair is 100 microns in diameter) they are invisible to the naked eye and easily transmitted through contact or via air currents.  Obviously antibacterial surface cleaners can be effective at reducing the bacteria from surface areas and hands. However, airborne bacteria, are impossible to remove unless you are using a HEPA based air filtration unit or system(s).

Most Hospitals and Surgery Centers use HEPA based filtration systems in their surgery, bone marrow transplant and infectious disease control facilities. However, many of the patient care rooms and recovery rooms are not well filtered. In addition, because of the high cost of medical treatments many patients are now sent home within 1 to 3 days for their post-operative recovery. For the most part, the majority of the general public does not have any type of filtration system suitable for maintaining a “clean-room” type of environment that is really necessary to reduce and eliminate the possibility of infection. That is why there are a significant number of  patients being treated for infections at the same Hospital from which they were released often within in 2 to 5 days after being sent home.

Pure Air Systems makes a wide selection of true, HEPA based air filtration systems that meet or exceed the requirements for removal of airborne contaminants in even the most critical of applications. These systems can be used either as stand-alone units or as part of an existing HVAC system.

For more information on the complete line of HEPA based systems please go to our website at: https://www.pureairsystems.com.  You can also follows us on Twitter a @pureairsystems  or call us at anytime on our toll-free number at: 800-869-8025.

In the book Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand wrote; “Every man builds his world in his own image. He has the power to choose, but no power to escape the necessity of choice.” This is basically a true statement. It also follows that making no choice is, in essence, a choice you make.

While this may seem a little philosophical the reality is that there is enough information and access to information about the direction the business world is moving to completely understand the choices you need to make to exist in this world. Companies are now recognizing the painful fact that they can no longer opt in or opt out of a new technology as the world can now work around them, through them and not with them and still grow. Sometimes the choices are made for you and you just have to accept the baton and run with it.

When Pure Air Systems opened their doors in 1985, they had to make a decision to market HEPA based air filtration systems to the residential market place when these systems were only used primarily in the commercial and institutional markets. The decision to take that jump paid off as PAS is now celebrating its 28th year in business. Now, Pure Air Systems is taking another leap of faith with its new entry into the very challenging medical products market.

Building a product for the medical market requires you to file a form with the FDA. The amount of information and data that is required is enormous and it is not unusual to have 500 to 700 pages of documentation and performance and operational protocol produced to satisfy the FDA. In addition, the performance of the product has to meet or exceed base line requirements as tested against similar approved products or processes.  This process can take from 4 months to a year to complete. The real issue is the completion of all the paper work and then the testing of the prototype medical product.

PAS began the process of developing the new APPAIS unit ( a variation of their HPS 500 portable HEPA unit ) in March of 2013. The FDA has indicated the approval of the unit as a Class II medical device will take place the last week of December, 2013. That is almost 10 months to the date of which the process was started. The upside is the product will have FDA approval and a patent that will preclude any other company from jumping in to this product application and offer an opportunity for Pure Air Systems to capture a market that here to for they could not touch.

The choice to build a product specifically for the medical market was made with the understanding that there would be significant costs associated with the process. Developing and building prototypes is not easy or inexpensive and the time and labor to complete the forms and data required by the FDA requires hundreds of hours and countless re-writes to ensure the materials are up to the demands of the FDA. It is the necessity of choice.

For more information on the complete line of HEPA and Carbon based air filtration systems please go to our website at: https://www.pureairsystems.com. You can also follow us on Twitter @pureairsystems or call us anytime on our toll-free number at:  800-869-8025.

Eight years ago I designed a new portable HEPA filter unit, the last of 7 units I had developed since 1985. When Pure Air Systems was founded in 1985 it had one HEPA system to offer to its customers, the model 600H that eventually became the model 6ooHS. Bigger and more powerful systems were developed which formed a complementary line of commercial grade, certified, fan powered, HEPA based air filter sytems.

The last unit missing was a portable. The HPS 350 and 500 models were developed and completed in 2006 and rounded out the line of Pure Air Systems units. Unlike the larger PAS HEPA units, the HPS series was really designed to work in small areas, offices, laboratories, clinics, specialty applications and any area requiring the removal of sub-micron airborne particulate. Other applications for the unit also included use as a rental HEPA system for post-operative patient care, especially in bone marrow transplants and cancer patients undergoing chemo treatments. These patients have a much higher rate of bacterial infection due to destruction of their immune systems.

Enter the APPAIS System,  (Added Particulate Protection At Injection Site) unit. This is a modification of the HPS series of portable HEPA units. The main difference being the blower/motor assembly is turned 180 degrees and is now positioned to blow or push air through the HEPA unit rather than pull air through it. On the discharge section of the housing a fine mesh filter will be placed to keep any materials or fingers from puncturing the HEPA filter and the same style polyester prefilter is placed on the inlet side of the unit to take out the larger particles and keep the blower/motor and HEPA filter clean.

The controls are the same. The lighted on/off switch and four position speed switch are located on the right side of the unit, when looking at the front. The power cord with hospital grade male plug comes in on the left side of the unit. A top mounted handle was added to make carrying the unit easier and to double as a place to wind up the power cord when the unit is not in use.

The system is designed to be used to protect the patient when given an injection of any kind that is normally given in the upper arm area. The syringe is normally wrapped and protected prior to use. But when the syringe is needed the protective wrapping is removed, air is often drawn into the syringe to test it and then the syringe is placed into the serum container, filled to the appropriate levels then injected into the patients arm. This entire operation is often done in stores, pharmacies, clinics, Dr’s offices and hospitals. The air in the patient area is seldom clean and often much dirtier than even the patients own home. The possibility for infection is very high.

The APPAIS unit will blow HEPA filtered air over the patients arm, allow the medical technician to test fill the syringe in HEPA filtered air, thus making the entire procedure much less suspect for the development of an infection. These units are now going through FDA approval process.

For more information on the complete line of  HEPA and Carbon based air filtration systems please go to our website at: www.pureairsystems.com or follow us on Twitter @pureairsystems. Of course you can always call us on our toll-free number at: 800-869-8025.

In 1958 the Platters released a new song titled, “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes.” This song has since been recorded by hundreds of artists over the years. It has been used in more than 50 movies as either the main theme song or one of the tunes as a way to emphasis a certain feeling or emotion. The Platters went on to record a number of other hits, but this one tune has had more impact than all their other well-known songs.

Whether it’s smoke from a cigarette, leaf fire, charcoal grill or exhaust fumes from an oil burning car, smoke will quickly and substantially irritate your eyes; with symptoms ranging from mild irritation to watering eyes, burning sensations, partial or complete blindness that can linger for long periods of time. These symptoms don’t include the choking, coughing, respirable irritation that accompanies the watering eyes. Anyway you slice it, ( and sometimes smoke is so thick you can slice it with a knife), exposing your eyes to smoke is not a good thing.

Interesting that in industrial facilities or manufacturing facilities where respirators are required, often the only eye protection is from safety glasses. While these protect the eyes from large flying particles, they do nothing to keep fine, airborne dust or smoke particles from entering your eyes. Small amounts of contaminants over long periods of  time can be just as damaging as large concentrations over short periods of time. Protection from or removal of the smoke particles is critical.

Pure Air Systems has been making HEPA and Carbon based commercial grade, fan powered air filtration systems since 1985. Removal of very high percentages of very tiny, sub-micron particles is their primary function. The HEPA systems offered by Pure Air Systems ( PAS) have an initial efficiency of 99.99% removal of all particle 0.3 microns or lager. And, approach 95% removal of all particles 0.12 microns and larger.  Since smoke is fairly visible with the naked eye, one assumes that smoke can be easily removed by the  HEPA units. While this is mostly true, it is not what you can see that hurts you, it is what you don’t see, and there-in lies the problem.

The visible smoke is extremely large, measuring more than 20 microns in size up to and over 100 microns in size. These larger particles are normally aspirated in and then expelled from the lungs. These larger particles are also more easily washed away by the tears that form in your eyes when subjected to high concentrations of smoke. However, the smaller, invisible smoke particles; those less than 20 microns in size, are easily ingested into the body and are not as easily removed by the tear ducts in your eyes. It is these smaller particles that cause all the damage and the majority of them can be removed by the use of HEPA filters.

Smoke is an irritant and should be treated as one. Even smoke from candles can be a problem when used in small, confined areas. The black soot-like particles that come from the wick ( both old and new styles ) is also very tiny and should be considered a threat to your body.

For more information on the complete line of HEPA and Carbon based air filtration systems offered by PAS please go to our website at: www.pureairsystems.com or follow us on Twitter  @pureairsystems. You can also follow us on Facebook or call us anytime on our toll-free number at: 800-869-8025.

Freedom from allergies, asthma and other significant respiratory health issue is a blessing for many of us. Everyone has a family member, relative or friend that suffers in various levels from a wide variety of allergens. Most of these consist of grasses, pollen, mold and a select group of airborne dust and man made particulate.

For most people the fastest relief possible is to take allergy medicine which consists mostly of anti-histamines which relieves some of the symptoms but usually leaves people drowsy and lethargic. Staying indoors can help but for most people becoming a hermit 24/7 is  just not practical. And, even isolating ones self in their home is no guarantee that those fine, micron sized allergens won’t find their way  into your home.

Becoming a hermit, living in isolation is no way to live. Even with the aid of the internet, skype and all the social media tools available to people today, isolating ones self from the outside world is not a practical solution. But, there is a solution to this problem and it is available from Pure Air Systems.

Pure Air Systems has been manufacturing commercial grade, certified HEPA and Carbon based fan powered air filtration systems since 1985. The ability to remove 99.99% of all airborne particles 0.3 microns or larger provided a system that could remove the allergens from the air. Over the last 26 years,  PAS has sold thousands of HEPA systems to residential and commercial customers alike. The feedback from those customers who purchased the HEPA systems specifically to help them with their allergy issues has been very positive.

Many of Pure Air Systems’s customers had been getting monthly allergy shots or taken allergy medicine on a regular basis. Most of these customers used the PAS HEPA systems in their homes, so they were in a relatively clean, allergen free environment for at least 8 to 14 hours each day. The results of being in this HEPA filtered environment, even for part of day, showed a high level of not only temporary but extended relief even when subjected to the outdoor, allergen laden environment.

For many of these allergy sufferers, the need for monthly allergy shots disappeared. The use of allergy medicine was reduced to deal with those days with extremely high levels of pollen, ragweed and other allergy producing particulate. Living in a HEPA filtered environment over time allowed the customers immune system to recover and thus allow for some minimal and occasional contact with those allergens.

While this information is certainly not a scientific study of any type, most individuals who suffer from allergies have tried all types of remedies and air filters and filtration systems. Their preference has been the HEPA filtration systems and most importantly their continued allegiance to the line of air filters manufactured by Pure Air Systems.

For more information on the complete product line, please go to our website at: www.pureairsystems.com. Or follow us on Twitter @pureairsystems. Of course you can always call us on our toll free number at: 800-869-8025.

There are times when you really see something for the first time after seeing it over a 1,000 times. You know what I mean. We are blasted by the media with all types of  new terms now common or strange terms now common. Our acceptance of odd terms and crazy  advertising slogans is amazing. We seldom question these terms because we start using them ourselves. The title of this blog is one of them.

So…when can virgin be extra virgin? Can you be extra dead? Things can be extra special, although special is usually good enough for me. I suppose the term extra denotes that something is better than what you can imagine. Again, if I can’t imagine it, how can it be better? Quite the conundrum. Hm..can you have an extra conundrum?… Get the point.

Companies have a habit of trying to out-do their competition by using the word extra to describe how well their product cleans, or the amount of additional service you’ll get by choosing their company or my favorite….NO EXTRA CHARGE.  Which actually means we are over-charging you for the base service but throwing in some other services that we would normally charge for but you think are free when they really aren’t.

Pure Air Systems has been manufacturing commercial grade, certified HEPA based air filtration systems since 1985.  From the beginning the metal framed, high performance HEPA and Carbon based systems were designed for commercial, institutional and industrial applications and have exceeded the performance requirements by our customers.

Using ECM style, digitally controlled motors, that are rated 120/240 volt, 50/60Hz, these systems can and are used around the world in applications as simple as food storage pressurization to portable and stationary surgery suites in second and third world countries.  The ability to use motors up to 1 hp but operate on the electrical usage of a 1/3 hp motor which makes these units inexpensive to operate and maintain.

The PAS HEPA systems range in volume capacity, as measured in cubic feet per minute, from under 50 CFM to 2000 cfm. The variable speed controllers available on all units allow for incremental air volume adjustments in 1% increments to allow for finite control of the HEPA filtered air required for your applications. There are few commercial grade HEPA systems on the market that give you this type of control with a full range of systems.

The new HPS 350 and HPS 500 portable units are fast becoming one of the more popular HEPA units available from Pure Air Systems. These compact, yet powerful, HEPA units have four speed volume control and are only 21 inches long and 13 inches square. They weigh less than 24 lbs.  These new systems can be used stand-alone or even configured in a by-pass mode for use with existing HVAC systems.

For more information on the complete line of HEPA units and their applications, please go to our website at; www.pureairsystems.com. You can also follow us on Twitter @pureairsystems or follow us on our Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/pureairsystems. Of course you can always call us on our toll-free number. 800-869-8025..which by the way is at no extra charge…