In the wake of Covid-19 and widespread wildfires, demand skyrocketed for air cleaners, machines that could remove potentially harmful particles from the air in a home. Manufacturers responded by producing a wider variety of air cleaner devices designed for single rooms.

The main purpose of an air cleaner is to, well, clean the air, making it safer and more comfortable to breathe. Yet, some of these devices may also release new unwanted chemicals as a byproduct. In large quantities these chemicals can be harmful, but it’s unclear how much these devices release into the air. The first step in addressing this problem is to find a way to reliably measure these unwanted byproducts.

That measurement solution has just been created. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) led the development of the new test, which lays out a consistent way to measure and compare a wide range of air cleaner byproducts. This test will allow manufacturers to make improvements in their devices, enable consumers to make apples-to-apples comparisons, and pave the way for emission limits of these byproducts.

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