How the allerAir high efficiency air cleaning system works

Allerair air cleaners use a 4 phase filtering system.
in the order that the air passes through them they are: the pre-filter, the Mass Activated Carbon Bed (MAC-B™) filter,the 2 anti-microbial filters and the HEPA filter.

1) The pre-filter traps larger dust particle and is easily removed and cleaned with a vacuum cleaner. It acts to stop the larger particles such as dust and lint from clogging the other filters.

2) The mass activated carbon bed (MAC-B™) filter adsorbs gases and odors. (Adsorb: no it’s not a typo. This is the process by which activated carbon captures gases and odors.) Most off the shelf air cleaners have a few token ounces of carbon sprayed on the pre-filter. This is only sufficient to capture a small amount of the noxious gases and odors in the air and for only a short period of time. The MAC-B carbon filter has pounds of activated carbon (from 7 to 160 lbs.) that will trap 90% of gases and odors that pass over it and will continue working for many months before needing to be replaced.

3) The 2 anti-microbial filters kill the airborne microbes that pass through them.

4) The HEPA filter traps the airborne particles. These filters were developed by the Atomic Energy Commission to trap radio-active particles. They can capture 99.97% of particles as small as 0.3 microns. That is as small as some bacteria.

The power of activated carbon

activated carbon is the only safe, cost effective way to trap noxious gases and odors

What it does and how it works.
activated carbon is carbon that has been treated with oxygen to open up millions of tiny pores between the carbon atoms.
There are so many of these that one pound of activated carbon has a surface area of 60 to 150 acres.

The technology used in military gas masks
activated carbon is the substance that keeps military personnel safe from poisonous gases. It is also used for water filtration.

Adsorption

Adsorbtion is the process where certain chemicals are attracted to activated carbon and then bond to it. The millions of pores in the activated carbon provide an enormous surface area to trap these chemicals.

The bigger the filter, the more chemicals it adsorbs and the longer it keeps on working
an activated carbon filter acts rather like a sponge. When it is full it can adsorb no more. The more carbon you have the more you can adsorb before changing the filter. AllerAir MAC-B carbon filters have from 7 to 48 lbs and will last from 9 to 24 months.

Most off the shelf cleaners have only a few token ounces of carbon sprayed on a mesh.
It's not enough to have any useful long term effect.