Blast Carbon Filter
HEPAs capture particulate pollution (things like PM2.5, PM10 and pollen). Carbon filters get VOCs. These are hazardous gases that normally pass right through a HEPA. As always, we’ve tested these filters, and all the data is available online. This is the replacement carbon filter for the Blast air purifier.
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HEPA filters capture particles like small PM2.5 particles. Activated carbon or charcoal, on the other hand, captures odours and gases like volatile organic compounds (VOCs). VOCs include harmful gases like formaldehyde and benzene, and can cause cancer, throat irritation, dizziness, and other not-fun side effects.
 VOCs |
 Formaldehyde |
 Paint odour |
 Smoke |
The carbon filter mesh consists of many carbon granules that have been treated to become extremely porous. This means that they have huge surface areas. In fact, just one gram of activated charcoal can have between 500 to 1500m² of surface area!
This massive surface area allows the carbon granules to trap many harmful gas molecules, giving you cleaner odourless and chemical-free air.
Troubled by odours or smoke smells in your office or hospitals? Get the Blast carbon filter to effectively remove harmful chemicals and odours.
HEPAs are great at capturing particles, but we'll need a carbon filter if we want to capture gas pollutants.
The Blast is simple and easy to use. Its carbon filter screen slots into the HEPA frame and sits between the fan and the HEPA.
Not necessarily. Not all homes have dangerous levels of harmful gases or VOCs that would call for a carbon filter. VOCs are more common in homes:
If you have inflammation or asthma symptoms, you may also consider using a carbon filter.
Purifier companies have a financial incentive to convince people to buy carbon filters. They make more money if they can scare people into buying carbon. We won’t do that. Check the facts and data first before spending your money.
To answer this question, we ran tests with an Industrial Scientific MX6 iBrid gas detector that can detect VOCs and many other harmful gases. In an enclosed porch, we lit three cigarettes (known to emit formaldehyde and benzene), turned on a Cannon fan with a carbon filter, and tracked VOC concentration. We also ran a control test of a fan with no carbon attached.
The blue line shows how the carbon layer effectively reduced VOC concentrations.
