Posted By Lyndon Sutcliffe From my point of view I see this is as 'comfort' as opposed to 'health and safety' but I am under increasing pressure to sanction the use of air purifiers in our main office. The reasons being given for this equipment are anti bacterial, anti static, deionising etc. Has anyone any opinions on the pitfalls/benefits of providing such equipment? There are obvious hazards in the type of equipment that has been suggested so far as it involves using a resevoir of water which allegedly catches airborne particles. The obvious hazards being water/electrical, slips, manual handling (when emptying) and waste issues, but are there any other, less obvious issues to consider before we go down this route? Don't shoot me, I just don't have the time to deal with this type of issue!

Posted By Bob Baynes A number of years ago a member of our staff brought in a de-ioniser to purify the air in the vicinity of his desk which was in a corner. After a while it was noticed that the de-ioniser was attracting all the dust in the air towards it. We could tell because much of it stuck to the walls and files around his desk. The walls and plastic trunking became ingrained to the extent they could not be cleaned sufficiently to remove the dirt. As he had placed it at the back corner of his desk, this was all flowing past him, he must have been breathing it in. He gave up the use of it and ever since I have been sceptical of their use unless expertly sited as part of an air filtration system. Bob.

Posted By Brett Day The other thing to consider is that many of these units just don't have the capacity to condition an office so at best only give a localised effect. If you want an office at the perfect temp, humidity, ionisation levels you need to be looking at the sort of close control air conditioning equipment that is common in computer rooms these will do all that is required and will also have high efficiency filters. HOWEVER, it all goes wrong when the units are not maintained, filters not replaced regularly and the most common aspect - the office staff themselves either opening windows or leaving doors open and everyone trying to 'play' with the thermostat.