PUBLISHED ONInvalid Date Invalid Date
SINGAPORE - Sales of air purifiers have been good due to the haze, going by recent reports. But not all purifiers are doing what they claim to do.
Results of a recent test commissioned by the Consumers Association of Singapore (Case) showed yesterday that almost all of the seven air purifiers tested worked as advertised in reducing the total bacteria count in the air.
The exception was a purifier by Panasonic.
Case said in a statement that the F-PMF35A model from Panasonic was advertised to be able to inhibit 99 per cent of mould, fungus and bacteria.
But the test results for total bacteria count, and the results of total yeast and mould count, showed that the elimination rate was less than 99 per cent.
Case said it has "met up and advised Panasonic to either withdraw or amend their claims".
The seven air purifiers tested were bought off the shelf from large electrical retailers. Case said most of them were made by recognised retail brands.
Case said the test was commissioned in April because of "the recent trend of consumers purchasing air purifiers to improve air quality in their environment".
Besides Panasonic, other brands whose purifiers were tested were: Novita's NAP 101, Sharp's FU-Z31E, Olee Ioncare's GH2173, Hitachi's EP-A3000, Mistral's AV1 and Maier's MHI-6330.
Case noted that among the purifiers from these six other brands, the brand whose purifier had the highest elimination rate for bacteria was Novita, while the lowest was from Maier's purifier.
The model with the highest elimination rate for total yeast and mould count was from Maier and the model with the lowest rate was from Mistral.
For more haze updates from AsiaOne, click here:
Get My Paper for more stories.