| Air quality is important to everyone. But for one | | | | help them create a safe-zone, like the one that |
| Allentown, Pennsylvania woman who suffers from | | | | Feudale-Bowes’ husband made for her in their |
| environmental illness, it has called for desperate | | | | backyard. |
| measures. | | | | “Being outfitted with the wrong air purifier is often |
| Elizabeth Feudale-Bowes, 52, is extremely sensitive to | | | | worse than not having one at all,” warns Hand. |
| chemicals, allergens and other everyday substances. | | | | “Only an air purifier with pounds of activated |
| As a result she suffers from migraines, joint pain, | | | | carbon can help adsorb dangerous airborne |
| bladder inflammation, seizures and even temporary | | | | chemicals—but what many air purifier companies |
| paralysis. | | | | don’t know, or don’t say, is that EI and MCS |
| So her husband built her a safe-zone structure in their | | | | sufferers can be sensitive to the carbon blend |
| backyard—what the couple lovingly refers to as their | | | | itself.” |
| “bubble”. | | | | Hand says choosing the right blend of carbon is key to |
| But yesterday, the county court ordered the couple to | | | | finding the right air purifier. She recommends the |
| dismantle the unsightly shelter that was built without a | | | | AirMedic MCS designed with EcoFlowä Technology, |
| permit and does not conform to building regulations. | | | | which comes standard with a test kit. “The client is |
| Feudale-Bowes maintains that the chemicals and | | | | given the test kit with different blends of carbon and is |
| substances in the air make her so violently ill, that | | | | able to then choose the type of carbon that best suits |
| without the bubble, where she spends 10 hours a day, | | | | their chemical sensitivities. This greatly limits a negative |
| she is unable to function. | | | | reaction to the unit itself.” |
| The county and the couple’s neighbors want the | | | | Hand also says that EI and MCS sufferers must stay |
| structure down by the end of the month. The couple is | | | | away from air purifiers designed with plastics. These |
| threatening to sue the township under the federal | | | | units, she says, have dangerous off gassing that can |
| Americans with Disabilities Act. | | | | be detrimental to EI and MCS sufferers. |
| This story is controversial and is making headlines. But | | | | “Air purifiers aren’t a one-size-fits-all solution,” |
| the Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Experts at AllerAir say | | | | said Hand. “A HEPA air filter is not designed to |
| they hear stories just like this one on a regular basis. | | | | remove chemicals, so it’s another perfect example |
| “We receive phone calls on a weekly basis from | | | | of an air purifier that won’t work for this |
| people just like Elizabeth Feudale-Bowes, who are | | | | purpose.” |
| desperate, and as a result take some pretty | | | | Hand suggests that people who have serious |
| desperate measures,” said Karen Hand, chemical | | | | sensitivities and extreme IAQ problems speak to an air |
| engineer and IAQ Expert at AllerAir. “Their illness is | | | | purifier professional, and not just pick up a random unit |
| often viewed by society and the medical community | | | | at the hardware store. “This move can often make |
| as psychological, and support is often lacking.” | | | | a bad situation worse, and lead to circumstances like |
| Hand says that people suffering with Environmental | | | | the one with Elizabeth Feudale-Bowes, where |
| Illness (EI) and similar chronic conditions such as Multiple | | | | desperate measures are taken in desperate situations. |
| Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) often turn to air purifiers to | | | | |