Miele, a manufacturer of premium home and professional appliances, has launched its latest range of vacuum cleaners, to help reduce the Middle East’s respiratory health issues.

It has designed a range of vacuums especially for homes with health demands, said a statement.

To create a safe haven for a family member with respiratory needs, the vacuum cleaner needs to do more than provide powerful suction, it must filter and exhaust clean air back into the home, it said.

The filtration efficiency of a vacuum cleaner significantly affects airborne dust and allergens in indoor air. To prevent these minute particles containing allergens from being re-circulated into the air, a vacuum cleaner’s filtration system must be able to trap the particles.

Rehana Sharma, head of marketing, Miele, Dubai, said: “Unique to Miele vacuum cleaners is the outstanding filtration, the result of a system consisting of up to 12 layers: the innovative Miele Hyclean dustbag, a motor protection filter and a Miele exhaust filter.

“The Active High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filter traps a range of harmful dust particles to further reduce the symptoms of asthma sufferers.”

Miele vacuums will be able to capture and contain 99.95 per cent of all dust particles, eclipsing the HEPA filtration standard of 99.7 per cent. HEPA filters are placed at the last stage of the Miele vacuum filtration system, ensuring all air has to pass through the filter.

According to the State of the World Allergy Report by the World Allergy Organisation (WOA), the Mena region is home to an estimated 50 million asthma sufferers, costing the regional health service and local economies an estimated $2.5 billion each year in direct medical costs, absenteeism from work and low productivity.

The issue of respiratory disease was further highlighted recently at the fourth Regional Expert Forum. Research from the event revealed the total direct cost of treating 139,092 asthma sufferers in Abu Dhabi to be approximately Dh108 million ($29.4 million) while in Dubai the cost was Dh88 million.

Air pollution within the home can negatively impact health in many ways. Common symptoms include eye, nose and throat issues as well as breathing difficulties, said the statement.

Even low levels of air pollution can have a negative effect on the health of vulnerable people, including the elderly, children, and people with cardio respiratory problems, it said.

Data from the World Health Organisation (WHO) confirmed that air pollution is now the world’s largest single environmental health risk and that a reduction in air pollution could result in saving millions of lives.

“We spend on average more than 90 per cent of our time indoors therefore the quality of indoor air is imperative. With the development of Miele’s patented 12-Stage Air Clean Filtration system we are playing a small part in benefiting the health and wellbeing of residents in the region by reducing dust particles and other allergens,” said Sharma.

Hard floors, traditionally prevalent throughout many homes in the Middle East, negatively impact the quality of indoor air due to the inability of the floors to capture the harmful allergens.

“Many people are aware of the issues of outdoor pollution and the impact it can have on their health however less people are aware of indoor air pollution. It is not uncommon for us to have customers who have been referred to Miele by their allergist, immunologist, or respiratory specialist such is the quality of our filtration systems,” said Sharma.

“For more than 100 years the Miele stamp has been a guarantee of excellence, this is particularly pertinent when the crux of our activity is centred on the health of our customers, therefore our expansion and the launch of our latest range of vacuum cleaners has never been more important,” she added. - TradeArabia News Service