Are air purifiers safe for birds?

[Ljuba]

I live in southern Ontario, a province over from the Quebec wildfires happening right now. Air quality has been noticeably worse outside, but for the most part it has been fine inside our apartment (we have central AC cycling air through our place).

Regardless, I'm worried that my budgies' health will decline because of the persistent smoke... So, are air purifiers safe for birds? If so, how far should i place the air purifier from their cage (they aren't very adventurous so i dont have to worry about them going out of their way to examine it up close)? I live with another person & we have our work-at-home setups in separate rooms, should i get an additional air purifier for her? Are air purifiers all pretty much the same, or is there anything I should look out for when buying?
If they aren't bird-safe, is there anything else that can help with air quality without jeopardizing my birds' health?

Thanks in advance

 

[Mizzely]

Most purifiers are safe. Stay away from anything that has an ionizer, (as that part is not safe) but most basic HEPA filters will be good and very beneficial as an everyday addition to all of your lives!

 

[BluJay]

The air quality is terrible even in PA as well! I can't even see the stars at night. A HEPA will absolutely help. I run a few units in my home; once I go outside my asthma and allergies kick right in. I have friends in Halifax and it's a really scary situation. One thing to make sure when buying a HEPA is to make sure it doesn't have an ozone generation function you can't turn off. They will sometimes call it by different names like Plasmawave or Fresh Scent. It's generally not good for humans (some units generate too much ozone) and not good for birds either.

 

[Toy]

I have 2 older floor model size Hunter air purifiers. They have 2 filters. One is mesh screen (washable) the other is a 3 stage HEPA filter. We run them 24/7 as I also have allergies, asthma & COPD. I'm in central PA & the smoke looks like dense fog right now. They say it will get worse as the day goes on. So far we can't smell it inside the house. News said it may last for a few plus days, so my birds won't get outside to the aviary until this smoke clears. We also need rain bad. We only got 0.44 inches in May. Down around -5.00 inches. Our grass is burned up in many places. Air is full of pollen & dust, as well as this smoke. We had 2 tiny T-storms roll thru yesterday. It only rained enough to wet the sidewalks. We have a possible chance of rain Sunday & Monday, which should help get rid of some of this smoke.

I'd suggest a purifier that has HEPA filter & more than one filter. A pre-filter (usually washable) will catch the larger particles. No ozone/ionizer, or one that you can turn it off. I have both of my air purifiers sitting right behind my birds cages. As I said we run ours 24/7/365.

Until you can get an air purifier you can use a box fan & duct tape a furnace filter to it. It won't be as good, but should help.

 

[Ljuba]

I just got back home with two air purifiers & set them up to run on high in both of our rooms. The birds were a little weirded out by their brand new spooky noisemaking contraption at first, but they already seem to have gotten used to it.

My bank account may be crying in pain just a little bit... but I can already feel the difference in air quality from this morning that I hadn't even noticed, so it was definitely worth it for us all to breath easier

We're all very grateful for your input!