HEPA vacuum filters not so hot for allergy sufferers?
Turns out all those fancy high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters that are landing a vacuum cleaners these days don't really serve allergy suffers as anything more than a placebo. Research at the North West Lung Centre, run by The University of Manchester, concluded that "there is no significant advantage to using a HEPA vacuum cleaner to reduce exposure to air-borne particles like dust-mites." They really seem to have it in for those HEPA filters, because they've run similar studies before and see no reason HEPA-equipped cleaners should be "recommended to allergy sufferers as a means of reducing personal exposure to allergens, either by their manufacturers or health professionals." Ah well, back to the old gas mask standby.
[Via medGadget]
