When it comes to cleaning the air you breathe, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says that the three common strategies for reducing indoor air pollution are source control, ventilation and air cleaning. Source controls address the pollution problem by targeting the source of the pollution. Ventilation systems use outdoor air ventilation to exhaust or dilute impurities in the air. And air cleaners extract contaminants from the air through various methods.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, source control is the best method because it employs a holistic approach-reducing the use of products that lead to indoor air pollution. Ventilation is second in terms of effectiveness, according to the agency, while air cleaning is deemed to be the least effective of the three measures looked at by the agency.

That is not to say that air cleaning doesn't have its place. In fact, if air cleaning is used in conjunction with one of the other methods, then it can be quite effective. Used alone, however, and the agency believes the impact will be negligible.

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