Fresh air and clean drinking water form the natural foundation for human health and survival. Yet with the continuous development of human society and the ever-increasing global population, the damage inflicted upon our ecological environment has grown increasingly severe! Particularly since the Industrial Revolution, rapid industrial expansion has seen industrial wastewater and exhaust gases discharged indiscriminately, causing grave damage to the very air and water resources upon which humanity depends for survival.
Water and air pollution pose a grave threat to human survival. Consequently, an increasing number of people are becoming aware of the escalating environmental pollution crisis and are beginning to prioritise drinking water safety and respiratory health. Thus, water purifiers and air purifiers have emerged in response to these concern
On 27 November 2020, the China Healthy Environment Appliances Industry Summit and Brand Awards Ceremony was grandly held at the InterContinental Resort Shenzhen Dameisha. Over 100 leading enterprise executives, technical experts and industry specialists from across the nation, alongside nearly 200 premium distributors and agents, gathered to witness this significant event. Mr Bai Xue Tao, former Deputy Director of the Institute of Environmental and Health-Related Product Safety at the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, delivered a keynote address entitled ‘The Vital Role of Water Purifiers and Air Purifiers in Preventing Environment-Related Diseases’. He provided a comprehensive analysis of the hazards posed by water and air pollution to people’s lives.
Dr Bai Xuetao, former Deputy Director of the Institute of Environmental Health, Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention
The Importance of Safe Drinking Water
Water pollution degrades aquatic environments and diminishes the quality of drinking water sources, posing a threat to human health. Consumption of contaminated water can lead to acute and chronic poisoning, carcinogenesis, infectious diseases, and other unusual ailments. Certain pollutants in industrial wastewater, such as mercury, lead, and arsenic, can even inflict fatal harm upon the human body. This is because contaminants—whether chemical, biological, or physical in nature—can infiltrate drinking water through various pathways, thereby causing significant health damage. It is important to recognise that 80% of diseases, including cardiovascular disorders, kidney stones, liver cancer, stomach cancer, childhood mortality, and intestinal infectious diseases, are linked to water pollution.
Mr Bai Xuetao stated that due to the harm caused by water pollution to human health, people employ various measures such as water purifiers to eliminate contaminants in water or control them to levels safe for human health, ensuring pollutants do not cause health damage through drinking water. Simultaneously, while safeguarding drinking water safety, one should fully utilise the mineral elements beneficial to health present in water and adopt a rational and scientific approach to drinking water. This approach helps prevent diseases and enhance human health levels.
A high-quality water purification system serves as a guardian of drinking water safety. It effectively filters out rust, silt, and colloidal particles from water, while adsorbing residual chlorine, odours, discolouration, and chemical agents such as pesticides. It removes heavy metals, bacteria, and viruses, enhances the taste of water, and safeguards drinking water safety.
The Importance of Respiratory Safety
Beyond water pollution, air pollution also impacts human quality of life, causing airborne contamination and increasing disease incidence rates. According to the World Health Organisation’s report entitled Air Pollution and Child Health: Clean Air is a Good Policy, approximately 93% of children under 15 years old worldwide (equivalent to 1.8 billion children) breathe severely polluted air daily, posing grave risks to their health and development. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that in 2016, 600,000 children died from acute lower respiratory infections caused by polluted air.
However, compared to air pollution in natural environments, indoor air pollution is significantly more severe. This is because modern individuals spend approximately 70% of their lifetime indoors, including time spent in vehicles. For urban residents, this indoor time extends even further, reaching 70% to 90% of their lives. Moreover, indoor air pollution levels are 2 to 5 times more severe than outdoor air pollution. Consequently, indoor air pollution has become an invisible threat to human health. Eliminating indoor air pollution and enhancing physical wellbeing has become an urgent and pressing matter.
Air purifiers, also known as air cleaners, air fresheners or purifiers, primarily function to remove particulate matter from the air, including allergens and indoor PM2.5. They also address air pollution caused by volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in indoor spaces, underground areas and vehicles, arising from renovation works or other sources. Given the persistent and unpredictable nature of pollutant release within relatively enclosed spaces, employing air purifiers to cleanse indoor air is internationally recognised as one of the most effective methods for improving indoor air quality.
Mr Bai Xue Tao stated that water purifiers and air purifiers, as products designed to remove contaminants from water and air respectively, thereby enhancing quality of life, will gradually transition from being discretionary purchases to essential items. This shift is driven by evolving consumer demands for home appliances amid structural upgrades in consumption patterns, alongside heightened health awareness. Concurrently, the intensification of the pandemic is poised to propel both purification sectors towards new developmental breakthroughs.