If the air outside drives you inside, you may not be helping yourself
| Text : Liana Cafolla | Photo : Oxyvital |
In May, the China Centre for Disease Control and Prevention estimated more than two million Chinese deaths annually were a result of indoor air pollution. According to research by the World Health Organisation air pollutions causes 2.4 million deaths every year, with 1.5 million of these attributable to indoor air pollution. As such, indoor air quality has moved to the front of the environmental issue line.
So what are we to do? You could turn to an Oxyvital Split Unit, a home air purification system that beats WHO’s standards for indoor air quality. Created by a Hong Kong firm founded by a mother of two, the Oxyvital system was designed specifically to address the situation in private homes and schools.
Originally from Austria and a resident of Hong Kong since 1986, Ilse Massenbauer-Strafe has been engineering clean indoor air for over a decade at an institutional level. Along with a German engineer, she patented the preceding ZeoSieve technology the Oxyvital is based on. Many of the hotels and offices using ZeoSieve have reported a significant reduction in man-hours lost to illness in the sick building syndrome. She’s simply adapted that for consumer use in smaller spaces with fewer people.
WHO cites nine indoor air pollutants as problematic, and many readily available air filtration units (like HEPA filters) can only really handle two, perhaps three of those. Systems more efficient at eliminating smaller toxic particles release toxic by-products while they work, creating something of a catch-22. This is where Massenbauer-Strafe, who comes from a marketing and psychology background, attempted to fill the gap with a more natural product. “I’ve been in Asia a long time [and] I experienced in my own body how the air declined to a level we no longer can ignore… My vision was to offer a technology of uniqueness and that really works. All those filthy filters you see around cannot be the solution to clean safe indoor air,” she states bluntly.
The home Oxyvital units retails for around HK$24,000 — a pretty steep price to pay for what some would call a fancy air conditioner. Massenbauer-Strafe puts it in a larger context, which she claims many of her existing clients have already done. “It is interesting to see that many people will not think twice about getting an expensive handbag, or the latest computer gadgets or iPhones. But it all comes down to one thing: If you’re not healthy you cannot enjoy any of it.” After water, air is the most vital component in healthy living that pays off in the long run. Massenbauer-Strafe claims that the unit results in better sleep, ability to concentrate and an overall “feel-good” effect for past clients, but agrees that, “How much that is worth to anyone is up to the individual.”
Air quality, environmentalism and green living have been front page news for years now, but activists still have to fight to get their message out — often to an increasingly sceptical public. Part of Massenbauer-Strafe’s philosophy is that healthy living is a constant chore and seems nearly impossible — but only nearly. “Think about it. How can indoor air be cleaner than on the street? Have you every looked at your A/C system, where it draws air from?” she declares, scoffing at the idea that it’s safer inside during high pollution level warnings. “We do face other pollutants indoors; there are … dangers in our offices and homes. Furniture has off-gas, painted walls and curtains are off-gassing, your computer creates electro dust…” The list goes on.
Ultimately one’s personal air quality is a choice — the option still exists to shut the doors and windows, put on a gas mask and enjoy a night of TV at home that way. But Massenbauer-Strafe doesn’t believe we should have to make that choice and she’s done something about it. She has, “found a solution to give everyone prepared to invest in health light, fresh ‘feel-good’ air as our converted clients call it.” Or in layman’s terms, many breaths of fresh air.
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