San Diego mystery odor challenges ordinary air purifiers

Residents of North San Diego County learned an important lesson about air purifiers late last week. It began Wednesday afternoon when emergency officials were flooded with calls about a horrible odor in the air. Some callers said it smelled like lighter fluid. Some thought jet fuel. But when officials from the local pollution control agency tested the air, they could find nothing unusual. Meanwhile, residents turned up their air purifiers but many found theirs ineffective against the widespread odor.

By late Thursday afternoon, the foul smell across the county was gone and pollution control officers were scratching their heads wondering where the odor came from. Though testing confirmed there wasn’t a health risk, officials still wondered what caused the stink. And even if the odor wasn’t dangerous, it was certainly annoying. Thousands of San Diegans have learned the hard way that only a high-quality, high-performance air purifier such as the IQAir HealthPro Plus can clear the air when there are odors and gases in the air.

The reason why most air purifiers are ineffective against foul smells is because even HEPA-quality air filters only stop solid particles in the air. Odors are caused by gases, not solid particles. That’s why the IQAir HealthPro Plus includes activated carbon adsorption and active alumina pellets to stop gases and odors. The GC MultiGas goes even further with the most advanced odor filtration available.

Many in San Diego are just glad the foul smell went away – for now. Reports eventually surfaced that decaying vegetation near the beaches was the source of the odor, but rumors abounded that the smell had a more ominous origin. “Sounds like a release of hydrogen sulfide gas to me,” said one blogger. “Usually precursers to quakes.” Now, if only an air purifier could stop unfounded rumors from spreading too.