Air purifier standard confusion needs improvement

The smog weather has made air purifiers a staple of the home appliance market. More and more people hope to improve their air quality through purifier products. It is predicted that in the next five years, the air purifier market capacity will increase at a rate of 30% per year. With strong market demand, manufacturers are competing to increase this area and introduce purifiers with various functions. However, the reporter visited the survey and found that air purifier products currently do not have uniform certification standards, their product propaganda variety, efficacy varies, leaving consumers confused. Experts believe that the function of the filter on the air purifier is very small. After the adsorption is saturated, the purifier may become a source of pollution.

Profit soars into a blue ocean air purifier

“The air purifier industry is a sunrise industry in China and has great potential,” said Song Guangsheng, director of the National Indoor Environment and Indoor Environmental Products Quality Supervision and Inspection Center. Initially people bought air purifiers to purify the newly renovated air just after renovation, and later slowly. This product began to enter the consumer's life. During the "11th Five-Year Plan" period, the average profit rate of China's indoor environmental protection industry reached 28%, and sales of air purifiers are growing at a rate of 27% per year. The air purifier industry has become a new investment hot spot.

In fact, the air purifier is not a fresh product. It was already on the market several years ago, but it has not received much attention from consumers and manufacturers. This year, as the problem of air pollution becomes more and more serious, how to purify the air quality around them has become the strongest appeal of the people. It is predicted that the market capacity of air purifiers will increase by 30% annually over the next five years. Smart merchants smelled business opportunities, and the major appliances companies began to compete for the Blue Ocean. In March 2011, Sharp entered the Chinese market for the first time with the "Pure Plasma Cluster" air purifier, and said that it will focus on the Chinese market. Earlier this month, Japan’s Sharp headquarters decided to set up a Health and Environment Division to make air purifiers a key product for promotion in China. According to relevant person in charge of Sharp, Sharp's sales of air purifiers have increased year by year. In 2007, Sharp's global sales of air purifiers exceeded 400,000 units, and in 2010 it exceeded 1 million units. Sharp's 2011 sales forecast is 1.3 million units, and by 2012 sales will probably double.

In addition to Sharp, Samsung, Gree, Daikin, Yuanda, Asia and other companies have announced that they will vigorously expand the Chinese air purifier market.

It is understood that the current annual global sales of air purifiers exceed 10 million units, but in China the household penetration rate is extremely low, less than 0.1%, in Japan, 17%, in the United States it reached 27%, the largest market in North America.

One Machine Many Can Really Question Hygiene and Health Market

The reporter learned from the interview that the purification principles of major manufacturers are not the same. Sharp introduced that its new air purifiers currently use a net ion mass technology, which means that a net ion generator is installed inside the product to release a high concentration of ion ions. Some other companies use activated carbon filter to filter, and some companies combine the functions of humidification and purification into one.

Yesterday, the reporter visited a number of store surveys and found that in several home appliance stores, air purifiers such as Yadu, Panasonic, and Midea ranged in price from a thousand dollars to over ten thousand yuan, and their functions and types were also varied, from traditional activated carbon filters to humidification. Purification combo, can be described as dazzling. All brands have promoted “Aldehyde” as a selling point. “Adult formaldehyde reduction rate of 99.7%”, “Clearance of Formaldehyde 99.36%”, “Pure life, and the opening of an aldehyde-free realm” can be seen everywhere on the counter. The sales staff of Broad Air Purifier are strengthening their own professionalism with “Zhong Nan Hai Dedicated”. At the same time, a number of promoters in the store introduced their products to reporters, claiming that this all-encompassing product can not only sterilize and disinfect, but also have the effect of beauty. Sharp's promoters also told reporters that the brand's air purifier has a function of static electricity. The promoters also performed an experiment on the scene. They used a plastic comb to make hair fly and then used the air blown by the air purifier. When the hair blows, the hair becomes smooth.

However, the recent sampling inspections of air purifiers by the quality supervision authorities showed that some products did not achieve the effect of purifying the air, but instead produced certain toxicities. Song Guangsheng pointed out that the use of air purifiers can reduce the degree of pollution to a certain extent, but it does not mean that the use of purifiers can fundamentally eliminate air pollution. The air purifier itself is a plasma purifier. In order to cater to consumers, manufacturers add a very thin filter on the machine to adsorb formaldehyde. In fact, this function has a very small effect, and it will soon be saturated by adsorption and will be changed by the air purifier. Become a source of pollution.

Wu Hao, secretary general of the Tianjin Household Electrical Appliances Association, also expressed his unanimous view. He said that in the current market of air purifier products, numerous businesses have sought to sell their products, and the health concepts such as “sterilization in the air” and “anti-virus” have been mostly commercial hype. The actual effect is difficult to determine. At the same time, the use of air purifiers can reduce the degree of pollution to some extent, but it does not mean that the use of purifiers can fundamentally eliminate air pollution. He suggested that consumers should not be confused by various concepts when choosing air purifiers.

Standards vary by certification body

In view of the mixed air purifier products currently on the market, Wu Yue pointed out that consumers must look for such factors as manufacturer qualifications, product functions, and purification technologies when purchasing products to ensure the safety, reliability, and effectiveness of the purchased products. However, the reporter found that although the purifiers on the market have all advertised their products through an authoritative department, there are a wide variety of certification bodies, which make consumers confused.

For example, a WASHING car air purifier provides air purification certificate issued by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, environmental and health related product safety certification; Sharp, Philips and other brands issued by the AHAM (United States Electric Association) test demonstration The certification issued by the Grand, Aipuaijia and other brands was obtained from the local quality supervision department. The Swedish brand Purifier said that it obtained the verification from AHAM and the US Food and Drug Administration.

For the various certification authorities provided by the manufacturer, the person in charge of a well-known brand purifier stated that the air purifier is not included in the list of products that are subject to compulsory certification by the state, so no functional certification is required. The product only needs to pass the safety and quality certification, and the GB/T18801-2008 “Air Purifier” standard revised at the end of 2008. In addition, some companies use the clean air volume (CADR) certification standard used in the United States, which is totally different from the domestic calculation method.

According to relevant practitioners, the concept of purification efficiency in the current domestic GB/T18801-2008 "Air Purifier" is more complicated. In the test, it is only required to detect the purifying effect within 1 hour of the air purifier, and there is a certain difference from the actual use time. At the same time, the efficiency efficiency before and after the labeling of the purification efficiency is markedly different from the calculated results of the clean air used abroad.

Song Guangsheng also agreed with this that the air cleaning efficiency marked by the purifier manufacturer is measured under specific conditions. Therefore, the effect in actual life cannot be achieved by the manufacturer.

Market calls for performance standards to be improved

For the problem of the confusion of standards, many companies also call for the current performance standards of air purifiers can not meet the needs and should be improved.

A company official said: "The current national standard for air purifiers is the GB/T18801-2008 "Air Purifier" revised at the end of 2008. The concept of the purification efficiency in this standard is more complicated. The stipulated purification efficiency is marked by the difference in efficiency before and after concentration. However, the United States, Japan, and other countries use the concept of clean air volume, ie, the ratio of clean air volume to rated air flow rate. The difference in the calculation results of these two types of purification efficiency is relatively large. If the same product, if the former method is used to measure purification efficiency, Up to 90%, calculated using the clean air method may only be 60%.” The responsible person also said: “The clean air volume measurement has its own advantages, this concept is similar to the air conditioning cooling capacity, that is, the amount of clean air output in one hour How much is it? For air conditioners, companies and consumers have reached a common understanding of how much room cooling air conditioners can accommodate, but current air purifier standards do not clearly define the area of ​​application of clean air."

In view of the problems in the air purifier industry, Song Guangsheng disclosed that the National Indoor Environment and Indoor Environmental Products Quality Supervision and Inspection Center cooperated with the China Quality Certification Center to standardize the performance of air purifiers. The certification standard is expected to be introduced at the end of the year.

Xu Dongsheng, secretary-general of the China Household Electrical Appliances Association, added that the China Household Electrical Appliances Association and the China Interior Decoration Association will jointly form a professional committee of indoor air purifiers. He hopes that professional committees will improve industry standards and solve problems in the industry. Through the joint efforts of associations and enterprises, a consensus has been reached among enterprises to provide consumers with high-quality air purifiers.

Air purifier market overview

Mainstream brands: Sharp, Samsung, Philips, Panasonic, Yadu, Midea Price range: 200-15000 yuan Efficacy: Sterilization, removal of formaldehyde, purification, filtration, static electricity, beauty, skin care Application area: 3-60 square meters; portable Products can be hung on the neck Certification unit: Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, AHAM (United States Electrical Appliances Association), U.S. Food and Drug Administration Industry Standards used by enterprises: GB/T18801-2008 "Air Purifier" standard; CADR (United States) The amount of clean air used) Certification technology: active purification, passive purification, dual purification class Precautions for purchase: Select the products of mainstream brand manufacturers, look for manufacturers' qualifications, product functions, purification technologies