Sleep better by installing an air purifier in your bedroom

On average, humans spend one-third of their lives in their bedroom (assuming they sleep eight hours per night). This adds up to about 17 years of our lives! Knowing that indoor air is 2 to 5 times more polluted than outdoor air, installing an air purifier in your bedroom at home and breathing clean air for eight hours per day can bring a variety of benefits to your well-being. Read on to learn more about how an air purifier can help you sleep better.

A child sleeping next to an Eoleaf air purifier

What is an air purifier?

First, it helps to understand what an air purifier is and what it does. Using an internal fan, an air purifier pulls in air from your space, applies one or more filtration technologies in order to remove polluting particles from that air, and then releases and circulates the purified air back into the room. This process may be repeated up to several times per hour depending upon the level of air pollution in your space.

Which pollutants does an air purifier filter out?

Due to the varying quality of air purifier filters available on today’s market, not all air purifiers remove the same pollutants or particles from the air. Eoleaf devices, for example, offer 8 different air purification technologies in one, convenient device. This allows our devices to combat all types of air pollution, even unpleasant odours.

That being said, investing in an air purifier with a filter of the highest quality for your home is vital if you hope to remove as many particles from the air as possible.

HEPA-filters: the gold standard of air filtration

Filters that are HEPA-certified provide the most extensive filtration available. What is HEPA? ‘HEPA’, or ‘high-efficiency particulate air’, is a filter capable of filtering, in a single pass, at least 99.97% of particles of a size greater than or equal to a diameter of 0.01 µm from your environment. HEPA is a European certification overseen by European standards EN 1822 and EN ISO 29463. For decades, these filters have been used in various settings including laboratories, operating theatres, and cleanrooms.

Woman sleeping peacefully on a couch

How can an air purifier help your sleep quality?

How do polluting particles in our indoor air keep us from getting great quality sleep throughout the night? Are there certain pollutants or particles found in our indoor environments that are more to blame than others? A 2020 systematic review aimed to determine just that.

The goal of the review was to compile the information obtained in 22 scientific studies. All of these studies provided information on the effect of indoor air pollution on sleep quality, duration, disturbances, and considered daytime sleepiness felt by participants. The participants consisted of those of all ages and in many locations all over the globe. The general consensus amongst these studies is that indoor air pollution plays an important role in sleep quality. The results of the review are summarised below:

Children and adolescents are heavily impacted by poor air quality, both indoor and outdoor, which causes adverse sleep outcomes and an increase in respiratory sleep problems
Adults experience more sleep-disordered breathing when sleeping in spaces with high levels of indoor pollution¹

It is estimated that one-third of children and 60% of elderly individuals experience poor sleep throughout the night. Concerningly, poor sleep can put individuals at higher risk of other health problems and diseases including cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, poor mental health, cognitive impairments, allergies, and overall poor general health¹.

Sleep-disturbing air pollutants in the bedroom

According to the above scientific review, the environmental pollutants most heavily responsible for poor sleep quality are fine particle pollution, also known as particulate matter (PM), and ozone. Poor temperature and humidity regulation also contribute to poor air quality and, thus, determine sleep quality.

Particulate matter

Particulate matter of all sizes (ultrafine particles or PM0.1, fine particles or PM2.5, and coarse particles or PM10) all affect sleep. Eight studies from the scientific review focused on prenatal maternal exposure to PM2.5 and found that a child’s future sleep efficiency could be determined by if and when the mother was exposed to PM2.5 during her pregnancy. For example, for pregnant women who were exposed to PM2.5 early in gestation (between 1 to 8 weeks), it resulted in children who were less efficient sleepers. For pregnant women who were exposed to PM2.5 later in gestation (31 weeks and beyond), it impacted child sleep duration.

Additionally, according to the review, children who were exposed to significant concentrations of PM10 near their schools experienced higher rates of sleep hyperhidrosis. Sleep hyperhidrosis consists of many different sleep disorders including sleep apnoea, insomnia, restless legs syndrome, etc.¹

For adults, PM2.5 and nitrogen dioxide exposure were reported to play an important role in impacted sleep quality in both the short-term and long-term. Exposure to PM2.5 was shown to significantly increase the risk of sleep apnoea for adults. PM10 exposure also results in disordered sleeping and decreased sleep efficiency¹.

Ozone

Ground-level ozone in our indoor and outdoor environments is another air pollutant that leads to poor air quality and disruptions in sleep patterns. The additional presence of sulphur dioxide and high humidity levels creates a perfect storm of sleep-related disturbances. According to the above scientific review, together, these air pollutants significantly increased the risk of wheezing-related sleep disorders in children. Similarly, when PM10 was also present and interacted with ozone in periods of high humidity, a positive association was reported with incidence of sleep apnoea¹.

Other pollutants: allergens and VOCs

Other indoor air pollutants are found in bedrooms that lead to adverse health effects. These may include allergens like dust and dust mites, pollen, pet hair and dander, and mould and its spores. Concentrations of these allergens may vary throughout the year, but they may lead to allergy symptoms that impact the quality of your sleep.

Furniture and bedding may contain plasticisers and other treatments that release harmful gases and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the air. Formaldehyde, for example, is a known carcinogen in humans and is emitted from new furniture for up to two years. VOC exposure leads to a host of negative health effects in both the short-term and long-term. Short-term exposure to VOCs may cause headaches, eye/nose/throat irritation, and nausea. Long-term exposure may lead to kidney, liver, and/or nervous system damage. As previously mentioned, some VOCs, like formaldehyde and benzene, are carcinogenic.

How can an air purifier help you sleep better?

Studies have shown that installing an air purifier in the bedroom provides many benefits for improved sleep quality. In fact, an individual with an air purifier sleeps an average of 12 minutes longer with an improved sleep efficiency of 3.2%^5,6.

Removes stale air

Filtering your indoor air can help to remove stale air and help you sleep better. Stale, stuffy air has a highly unpleasant smell and is something that all of us have experienced at least once in our lifetimes. Stale air is caused by a build-up of certain chemicals and humidity in the air due to lack of ventilation. Some of those chemicals may be exhaled carbon dioxide and MVOCs (microbial volatile organic compounds), and when these components are not properly ventilated, the ratio of airborne contaminants to oxygen increases³. An air purifier can pull in stale air, remove the airborne contaminants, and release purified air, ensuring that you will only breathe the freshest air whilst sleeping.

Improves respiratory disease and allergy symptoms

An air purifier provides significant benefits and relief for respiratory disease and allergy symptoms. For those with respiratory diseases (such as COPD or asthma) or allergies (seasonal or year-round), installing an air purifier in the bedroom can encourage easier sleep. For asthma sufferers, 80% of asthma attacks are triggered by allergens (like dust mites or pollen), and by removing airborne allergens from the air, asthmatics can be protected from asthma attack triggers⁴.

For those experiencing allergies, air purifiers containing a HEPA filter can filter all allergens and air pollution – such as dust, dust mites, pollen, pet dander, smoke, and VOCs (volatile organic compounds) – down to particles the size of 0.01 µm. All Eoleaf devices contain HEPA filters. However, where you place your air purifier within your space can drastically impact its effectiveness.

Reduces snoring and sleep apnoea

For people of all ages, pollutants in your indoor air can be responsible for causing breathing difficulties which may lead to snoring. If either you or your partner snores, installing an air purifier for improved sleep may help you both sleep more soundly.

Furthermore, recent studies have found a link between chronic air pollution exposure and sleep apnoea. One study in particular published in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society (ATS) showed that individuals with a higher level of exposure to nitrogen dioxide and fine particle pollution (PM), two common components of traffic-related air pollution, are more likely to develop sleep apnoea².

Provides white noise

An unexpected use of an air purifier, in addition to its depolluting qualities, is that it may serve as a white noise machine. Studies have shown that individuals who use white noise machines fall asleep 40% faster than those who do not. The soft whirring of an air purifier may help to drown out noisy neighbours, snoring sleeping partners or pets, and city sounds, to name a few. It has often been recommended by sleep specialists as a means of treating insomnia⁸.

Children and babies also fall asleep quicker when using a white noise machine. According to a 1990 study on 20 neonates, the use of a whist noise machine put 80% of the children asleep within five minutes compared to only 25% who were left to fall asleep spontaneously⁹.

Where is the best place to install an air purifier?

When choosing a location in your space or environment to install an air purifier, the following list can help you decide:

Place it as close as possible to pollution sources (smoke, odour, mould, etc.)

Keep in mind that not all air purifiers combat odours – only those equipped with activated carbon filters like Eoleaf’s devices do!

Place it near a window or close to a doorway where as much air as possible can pass through the device
Never install an air purifier in the corner of a room where airflow is the lowest
Make sure that the air purifier is far from any obstacles that may impede airflow
Avoid putting your air purifier in rooms with high humidity or near electronic devices (to avoid electronic interference)
Move your air purifier around regularly whilst following the above rules!⁷

The bedroom makes an ideal environment for your air purifier. Keep in mind that the closer the device is installed to your head, the shorter the distance the purified air will travel. This will help you sleep better and breathe the purest air all throughout the night.

Ensure better sleep today by installing an Eoleaf air purifier in your home! Reach out to our team of experts to find the device that is perfect for you and your space.

A child sleeping next to an Eoleaf AEROPRO 100 air purifier

References

¹ Liu J, Wu T, Liu Q, Wu S, Chen JC. Air pollution exposure and adverse sleep health across the life course: A systematic review. Environ Pollut. 2020 Jul;262:114263. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2020.114263. Epub 2020 Feb 24. PMID: 32443219; PMCID: PMC7877449.

² Billings, M. E., Gold, D., Szpiro, A., Aaron, C. P., Jorgensen, N., Gassett, A., Leary, P. J., Kaufman, J. D., & Redline, S. R. (2018). The association of ambient air pollution with sleep apnea: The multi-ethnic study of Atherosclerosis. Annals of the American Thoracic Society. doi:10.1513/annalsats.201804-248oc

³ Poslusny, C. (2022, November 8). What is stale air? it's actually chemicals like CO2 and MVOCs. Molekule Blog. Retrieved December 13, 2022, from https://molekule.com/blog/what-is-stale-air/

⁴ NHS. (2021, April 19). Asthma. NHS choices. Received April 16, 2024, from https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/asthma/

⁵ Lamport, D. J., Breese, E., Gião, M. S., Chandra, S., & Orchard, F. (2022). Can air purification improve sleep quality? A 2‐week randomised‐controlled crossover pilot study in healthy adults. Journal of Sleep Research, 32(3). doi:10.1111/jsr.13782

⁶ Horvath, E. (2023, April 18). Study links air pollution, heat, noise & more to reduced sleep. Penn Medicine. https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2023/april/sleep-efficiency

⁷ Where to place Air Purifier? (7 golden 'best place' rules + bonus tip). LearnMetrics. (2022, July 5). Retrieved December 13, 2022, from https://learnmetrics.com/where-to-place-air-purifier/

⁸ Messineo L, Taranto-Montemurro L, Sands SA, Oliveira Marques MD, Azabarzin A, Wellman DA. Broadband Sound Administration Improves Sleep Onset Latency in Healthy Subjects in a Model of Transient Insomnia. Front Neurol. 2017 Dec 21;8:718. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2017.00718. PMID: 29312136; PMCID: PMC5742584.

⁹ Spencer JA, Moran DJ, Lee A, Talbert D. White noise and sleep induction. Arch Dis Child. 1990 Jan;65(1):135-7. doi: 10.1136/adc.65.1.135. PMID: 2405784; PMCID: PMC1792397.