Weinheim, March 20, 2014. Today is the first day of spring. The days are getting longer, the birds are twittering and the trees are starting to blossom. But not everyone is so happy about the mild weather. In Germany alone, almost one in three people suffer from running eyes, running noses and sneezing. The start of spring is also the start of hay fever. Freudenberg Group associates are working on a number of products to make life easier for allergy sufferers. Freudenberg not only produces air filters for vehicle interiors and filter media for room air cleaners but also nonwovens for anti-allergy bedding. As a result, the people who are affected can still enjoy a high quality of life by adapting their everyday lives to avoid allergens as well as taking appropriate medication.
In the spring, life is not so easy for people affected by hay fever. The air is full of pollen which causes allergic reactions on mucous membranes in the airways, nose and eyes. It can become absolute torture especially for car drivers. In the slipstream of a moving vehicle, the pollutant concentration in the following vehicle may be increased sixfold. As a result of this tunnel effect, drivers are exposed to considerably higher pollutant concentrations than pedestrians on the roadside. For allergy sufferers, this is not only unpleasant but may also cause accidents. According to Automobilclub Deutschland, a German motoring organization, the accident risk for people affected by hay fever is up to 30 percent higher during this time as a result of poor concentration and sneezing attacks.
In this situation, micronAir cabin air filters from the Freudenberg Filtration Technologies Business Group can help. They filter between 10 and 150 litres of air per second, removing pollen, dust, particulate matter and bacteria. They should be replaced once per year to ensure that they remain fully effective.
Fine dust filters from Freudenberg Filtration Technologies, used in room air cleaners, improve the quality of life for people who are allergic to domestic dust. And Freudenberg filter is also accused for protection against particulate emissions from office equipment. They retain extremely fine particles of toner dust which are emitted by laser printers, for example, before they reach the mouth or nose of allergy sufferers, where they could cause swelling of the mucous membranes. For these products, Freudenberg has received the Seal of Quality of ECARF, the European Centre for Allergy Research Foundation.
If you have allergy problems, you may not even be able to relax in your own bedroom but may well experience running noses and coughing attacks. Evolon bedding and mattress covers from the Freudenberg Nonwovens Business Group were developed especially for allergy sufferers. They offer protection against mites who find an ideal habitat in mattresses and bedding. House dust mites are especially critical as they cause allergy problems for about 4.5 million people in Germany alone. Evolon bedding protects people against these small but annoying creatures and helps allergy sufferers get a good night's sleep.. "Evolon consist of very fine micro-fibres and has an extremely dense structure. It provides the best possible barrier against mites. In addition, our micro-filaments meet the highest medical requirements," explains Jean-Francois Kerhault, Business Segment Manager Evolon, Europe.