Bamboo Charcoal Air Purifier Bags
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I came across bamboo charcoal air purifier bags when researching for my article on how to deodorize your house naturally. I was immediately intrigued by the idea, though I’d never heard of it before.
If you’ve been around the natural living space for a while, you’ve probably heard of or even used activated charcoal products in a couple different areas. Probably the most common products I’ve seen charcoal in are toothpastes and facial cleansers. What you may not know is that activated charcoal is frequently used in hospital settings to treat acute overdoses of various drugs.
Now we have this product, bamboo charcoal air purifier bags. What’s the point? Are they effective? Should you be using bamboo charcoal in your house? Keep reading to find out.
What are bamboo charcoal air purifier bags?
What are bamboo charcoal air purifier bags?
These are exactly what they sound like: a breathable, filter bag filled with charcoal made from bamboo, rather than various types of wood. As we’ve discussed previously, activated charcoal (in this case made from bamboo) is great at absorbing organic compounds and toxins because of its porous and negatively charged nature. An air purifier bag uses this effect by creating an area of concentrated bamboo charcoal for air to pass through and thus become filtered.
Activated charcoal not only filters the air from toxins that might be bad for your health, but it can also help neutralize odors through the same process, as odors are just caused by foul or decomposing organic compounds. These can be caught, helping reduce odors.
As I mentioned once above, it’s a little more difficult for charcoal to filter air just because it’s harder to direct all the air in an area through the filter. Because of this, charcoal air purifier bags are typically used in more specific areas, such as placed with your shoes or in your laundry hamper.
You may be wondering, why bamboo charcoal? There are several reasons. The first is that bamboo charcoal has a much higher surface area per gram and thus a way higher absorption rate than charcoal made from wood. The superior efficacy of bamboo charcoal has been shown in areas such as water filtration. Additionally, bamboo grows like a weed. It can grow even in less than ideal environments and it spreads and grows up very quickly. Because of this, it could be a much more environmentally friendly alternative to other forms of charcoal that lend to deforestation.
Do bamboo charcoal air purifier bags work?
While there isn’t abundant or thorough research on the capacity of bamboo charcoal to remove odors and VOCs yet, there is solid preliminary, laboratory research on the efficiency of activated charcoal in general, with some studies showing a definite removal of VOCs. Though not a rigorous academic research study, I found this low-budget style case study of the effectiveness of bamboo charcoal air purifier bags at not just filtering compounds from the air but also improving smell (which are related/simultaneous effects). There are also interesting studies showing bamboo charcoal used in combination with another material to provide very highly efficient air filtration.
While there is not a plethora of research on activated carbon/bamboo charcoal for air filtration specifically, there is a bit more research on this for filtering water. In combination with water research and the fact that this is a relatively simple physical/chemical process, I’m not as worried about the lack of studies in this area. It’s not quite the same as ensuring a complex process in a human body. While it would be good to see a few more studies saying air flows through bamboo charcoal and comes out with less VOCs, there are several, and that is enough for me at this point, especially given what we know about activated charcoal in general. It’s also helpful that there’s no evidence contrary to the positive findings we do have.
From the evidence we have available to us, bamboo charcoal air purifier bags seem to be a great option for purifying air in your home, especially in particularly dirty spots. They could be used instead of or in combination with an electric air purifier bag.
Another benefit of bamboo charcoal air purifier bags is that they may end up saving you money. They’re relatively inexpensive and won’t cost you on your monthly electric bill. These would also be a great option for places without electricity or that try to minimize electricity use.
How to use bamboo charcoal air purifier bags
These air purifier bags can be great for smelly areas such as shoe collection spots, laundry, gym bags, the car, and so much more. But they’re also just practical for use around the house to purify the air from unwanted toxins.
When I first pictured these air purifier bags, I imagined punching bag sized products that you stuck in the corner of your closet or something. But really they’re quite small. This makes sense on one hand because the whole point of bamboo charcoal is that little is needed for large effect. The size also lends itself to a variety of uses.
You could place them in your closet or in rooms in general, but the size of them makes them great for discreet use. For instance, you can throw them in a drawer, in a hamper, in a super smelly gym bag, or even in some shoes depending on the exact size you get. The uses really are endless but anywhere that’s stinky could definitely benefit from an air purifier bag.
Otherwise, I would include them in high traffic areas like the couch or entryway. I even found this cute disguised version you could put on your coffee table or dresser. I’m not sure how it impacts air flow, but it seems like a great idea to me. What do I know. Another wonderful area for a charcoal air purifier bag would be in front of the inlet to your air conditioner. Obviously you don’t want to fully block it, but air is pulled to this area of your home so it’s a great target for an air purifier bag. It’s not going to get everything, obviously, but it could help.
As for upkeep, bamboo charcoal bags can be “reactivated” in the sun. Activated charcoal does become saturated and needs to be disposed of and replaced. However, heat (which can be achieved through UV rays even if it’s not hot) loosens the bonds of the compounds from the carbon to free up the carbons to do more catching. It’s unclear exactly how much you can continue doing this, but it doesn’t seem like there would really be a limit. So these air purifier bags may also turn out to be a great renewable or “evergreen” type option.
Sourcing
As for where to buy your charcoal air purifier bags from, I don’t know that it really matters. At the end of the day activated charcoal is activated charcoal. I do tend to be wary of random companies on Amazon that make an odd assortment of things. I also am not willing to pay more money than I have to for something.
One brand I found that actually has a website and makes other bamboo and eco-friendly products is Seek Bamboo, and that is where I bought my air purifier bags from. This is actually the company that did the little “at-home-style research” I mentioned earlier. They work great, I’m happy with my purchase. I do not make any money from recommending this brand.
If you are looking for an Amazon purchase option, basically the only one that didn’t seem like it was just drop shipped and remarketed is Moso Natural. They’re a decently well-known and trusted company so I don’t think you could go wrong with that.
Summary / TLDR
Bamboo charcoal air purifier bags work by taking basically pure carbon (created by heating bamboo until it is reduced to carbon) to capture organic compounds (including VOCs) to reduce toxins and odors in the air.
Bamboo charcoal is a great option due to its renewability and low impact of harvesting and production on the earth, and it is an excellent absorber of compounds. Though more research is needed to continue to repudiate what has already been found, bamboo charcoal air purifier bags appear to be very effective at purifying the air.
Bamboo charcoal air purifier bags may be a great choice for you if you are looking for a natural and low-cost, environmentally friendly way to purify the air in your spaces and eliminate odors. Throw one in your shoes, your car, or your laundry area for treatment of particularly odorous areas or use them throughout the house to purify the air from toxins.
I hope you found this information helpful. If you have any questions or feedback, feel free to shoot me an email. If you would like to receive more of this content, stay tuned for future posts and join our newsletter. I currently send monthly newsletters with the most recent posts as well as news and updates on all things holistic health and natural wellness.
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