Recommendations for the use of residential air-cleaning devices in the treatment of allergic respiratory diseases.

In an attempt to recommend standards for room air-cleaning devices, a committee reviewed (1) the types and performance characteristics of available domestic air-cleaning devices, (2) the available data on concentrations of allergens in the indoor air, and (3) the studies that have examined the health effects of the use of indoor air-cleaning devices. Absense of adequate data on the clinical relevance of indoor ambient allergen levels, as well as the effect of air-cleaning devices on these levels, plus a general lack of health effects by these devices in published double-blind studies precluded any firm recommendations for their use. It was clear, however, that use of room air-cleaning devices in the absence of other forms of environmental control was not reasonable.