Bad air quality can be bad news. Conventional thinking of the past would say that an air purifier is for a person who has allergies, or smokes, or has a house with mold. But researchers are now saying that local bad air quality is enough to warrant the purchase of an air purifier, especially for pregnant women.

WRCBtv in Chattanooga interviewed Dr. Christopher Innes, an OB-GYN, who explained how air pollution these days can cause complications in pregnancy: “Small babies being born, early delivery, and sometimes even hypertension in moms which could necessitate early delivery.” Plus there is an increased Asthma risk.

What should pregnant women do? Check the air quality index every day before going outside. “It’s impossible not to go outside, not to go to work, not to go to school, not to go to the store. But just limit it on those days.” For indoors, “little portable air purifiers may help. Change your air filters in your home frequently.”

WRCBtv.com | Chattanooga News, Weather

Research is already underway for a better air filtration system. The National University of Singapore, according to Channel NewsAsia, has developed an air purifier twice as effective as current conventional ones.

It may look like just a regular fan, but it actually targets PM2.5, particles smaller than a human hair. “I was at home trying to innovate and protect my children from high haze exposure indoors,” said Dr Jeff Obbard, head of the team that created the purifier. “And I realised quite quickly that there were no air purifiers left in stores so I started playing around at home with the fans I had and basically came up with a basic system there and then and thought perhaps I can develop this further at the university.”

For those who can’t afford the latest and greatest air purifier, any number of stores will sell you a conventional one. But one thing is for certain, as air quality continues to spiral down, demand for a better air purifier will go up.

Want to breathe easier in spring? Wave goodbye to allergies & hello to in home air purifiers: http://t.co/HEfB1s9chB pic.twitter.com/ofwf0JE2KY

— Sears (@Sears) May 8, 2014

Image via Wikimedia Commons.