Do HEPA Filters Work with Cigarette Smoke?

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hepa filters work on weed smoke and cigarette smoke

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Smoke can leave a near-permanent odor on your belongings, especially if you smoke indoors. Tobacco smoke carries chemicals through the air, embedded into porous material.

These chemicals, however, are small particles that can be filtered. HEPA air purifiers and HEPA air filters can do that job very well.

It can filter tobacco smoke and other types. It can also take other airborne microbes like pollen, pet dander, and mold spores from the air.

If you’re trying to quit smoking, it can be a lifesaver, considering it will take the smell of smoke out of the air and reduce external cravings.

How do HEPA filters work on smoke?

Aside from the normal air pollutants such as pollen and mold, HEPA filters are created in a way that also removes smoke particles and chemicals from the air as well. HEPA air purifiers suck in air from the surrounding room; it will then expel clean, filtered air back out.

If someone in your home is a smoker, this is the best solution to have when it comes to indoor smoking.

The HEPA filters are made in such a way that they can grab the smallest particles from the air and trap them or eliminate them.

Even though cigarette smoke is one of the smaller particles in the particle size spectrum, HEPA filters are effective at trapping them and containing them in the woven fibers of the filter.

But here is what no filter can do. Remove the existing smoke odors from a room or home.

Ozone generators are the only advanced smell-neutralization machine that eliminates all organic odors.

How it Eliminates Smoke

The technology surrounding HEPA filters is extensive to help trap and eliminate airborne microbes and particles that may be harmful to breathe in.

Considering the fibers are randomly woven, the area that the HEPA filter covers is bigger, denser, and more effective than the average air filter.

It goes through three different phases of capturing and removing these air particles:

  • Diffusion
  • Interception
  • Inertial Impaction
  • Electrostatic Attraction

Each of these mechanisms does its part in trapping the particles from the air, whether it’s the smoke itself or the chemicals that the smoke contains. These four mechanisms work in tandem or separately from each other.

The different phases of capturing and removing air particles in a HEPA filter

Diffusion

This mechanism is a result of collision with gas molecules by the smallest particles. They are blocked and slowed in their path through the filter.

Interception

This is the most basic form of filtering where the particles go through a flow in the air stream. They come into contact with a fiber and stick to it.

Inertial Impaction and Electrostatic Attraction

These two mechanisms usually work together and similar to each other where particles are unable to avoid fibers. They follow a bending outline of air flow and are forced to embed into the fibers directly. This effect increases with diminishing fiber separation.

Conclusion

Smoking is a bad habit, but there are ways to eliminate the smoke smell surrounding it. HEPA air purifiers and HEPA filters will trap and eliminate smoke and other things like pet dander and dust mites.

It’s always a good idea to try to kick the habit of smoking, but air filters will drastically increase the quality of life around you and your family.

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