"Air Purifiers Beyond Major Brands... Overall Quality Improvement Needed"

Test Evaluation Results for 8 Products from Small and Medium Enterprises
4 Products Fail to Meet Standards for Harmful Gas Removal
2 Other Products Do Not Meet Noise Standards

Some air purifiers produced by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and mid-sized companies failed to meet standards for harmful gas removal capabilities and noise levels.

The Korea Consumer Agency announced on the 14th that, after evaluating the performance of eight air purifier products priced between 100,000 and 200,000 KRW produced by SMEs and mid-sized companies in Korea and China, four products fell short of the standards for harmful gas removal and deodorization efficiency, and two products did not meet noise standards. The four products showed removal rates below the standards for five gases, including formaldehyde and toluene?substances that cause sick house syndrome?as well as ammonia, acetaldehyde, and acetic acid, which are representative household odors.

When measuring noise generated by operating the air purifiers at maximum airflow, two products?Airwell99 (HK1705) and Hansol Electronics (HAP-1318A1)?exceeded 50 decibels, failing to meet related standards. Additionally, upon inspecting the filters of each product, the Korea Consumer Agency detected prohibited harmful substances (CMIT·MIT) in the filter of the ThinkAir product (ThinkAir AD24S). The distributor of the product decided to discard the filters containing harmful substances and to replace the filters free of charge for products already sold.

The annual energy costs of the eight air purifier products varied by up to four times, and filter replacement costs differed by more than ten times. When running an air purifier at maximum airflow for 7.2 hours daily over one year, electricity bills ranged from 8,000 KRW to 32,000 KRW. Recommended filter replacement intervals varied between six and twelve months depending on the product, with annual costs ranging from 15,000 KRW to 184,800 KRW, showing a significant gap. However, all eight products met the 'standard usage area' criteria, which convert fine dust removal performance by dust collection during operation into area coverage. Structural and electrical safety, as well as ozone emission levels, were also confirmed to comply with safety standards.

The Korea Consumer Agency plans to disclose the results of this test evaluation on the 'Consumer24' website and recommend improvements to manufacturers and sellers of products with insufficient quality. A representative from the agency stated, "Brands evaluated as relatively superior in quality will be included in future air purifier quality comparison tests to expand consumer choice."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.