HoseCrusher wrote:If the assumption is that in an xPAP machine the water simply evaporates, then there is no concern.
However, if the air blowing over the water has a chance to form an aerosol, then things change...
Correct. The S9 I'm using allows me to see the surface of the water while in operation, and I don't think there's enough turbulence to do this, so I doubt it's an issue.
SewTired wrote:Guest wrote:This is total nonsense. Even my sleep doctor said the ONLY reason for using distilled is to prevent mineral buildup which can cause problems with proper humidification. There was a bunch of nonsense about minerals in room humidifiers back in the 80s or 90s. It was nonsense. There are some water conditions where tap water is not recommended, but for most people, it's a nonissue. For examples, if the water isn't clear, it has a bad odor like sulpher, it is from a well, it is DIRECTLY from a lake or river - these are instances where bottled water is recommended over tap. During the spring, they flush the water systems - that's another time to have bottled water of some kind.
This is misinformation.
The reason people became concerned about humidifiers in the late 80's and 90's is because that was when ultrasonic humidifiers became commercially available.
Rather than heating the water up, or spraying it through a baffle to turn it into an aerosol, ultrasonic humidifiers vaporized the water using high frequency sound waves.
Immediately people found that in rooms where they switched from heated humidifiers to ultrasonic humidifiers, they found a "white dust" collecting throughout the room.
Those who were using the spinning humidifiers already knew about this issue, and either used distilled water, or just lived with it.
But because this was new to many, and because ultrasonic humidifiers were new, it became a big story.
Manufacturers and physicians were quick to respond that when used properly they posed little threat.
However, that's not entirely true. There were, and still continue today, to be cases like this one:
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/c ... 127/2/e509
Where the water supply isn't great, and the humidifier is perhaps overused, to the point where the child became gravely ill.
Any humidifier that could be called "cool mist" and depends on creating an aerosol through a process other than evaporation has this issue. Whether it's safe to use or not generally isn't clear, and depends more on the water you put into it, the environment you use it it, and your exposure than the exact process, be it ultrasonic or mechanical aerosol generation.
For instance, it's not a good idea to use it if your water is contaminated with lead. At that point, distilled or reverse osmosis purified water should be used.
As far as heated xPAP humidifiers, I'd suggest that it's better to be safe than sorry, but they are your lungs. Using tapwater occasionally from a safe source is unlikely to cause a problem, but while the chances of harm from tapwater are low, the damage that could happen is potentially high, so I wouldn't recommend regular use.
For myself, I'm using reverse osmosis purified water. Not quite as good as distilled, but little to no mineral content, bacteria, and other bad things.
