Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Pollen tec screen has totally failed to match the marketing claims of inhibiting pollen and dust. My allergy symptoms are still annoying, and the dust is still accumulating on the window sill at the same rate it did with a standard window screen. If other reviewers think this stuff is working, they are either subconsciously dusting more often, or they are implementing other remedies in parallel. Or perhaps they live in an area where the pollen particles are gigantic, and easily filtered out. Pollen Tec screen can’t work on filtration alone. The openings in the screen are simply too big. I took some Pollen Tec screen and standard window screen into the lab where I work to take some measurements with a microscope. Standard polyester window screen has openings of roughly 2x2 mm (2000 x 2000 microns). The openings on Pollen Tec screen are approximately 300x2000 microns. Yes, the openings are significantly smaller in width than standard screen, but pollens run in the range of 5 microns to 100 microns. A 100 micron particle will pass through a 300 micron mesh as if it wasn’t even there. Pollen Tec claims the screen “electrostatically pulls airborne particles out of the air”, but a single layer is not how electrostatic filters work. Electrostatic filters are multi-layered, the theory being that as the particle passes through the layers, it picks up a charge, and finally sticks in the filter stack. With a single polyester layer, the claim of electrostatic filtration is dubious at best. Just look at allergy masks – a typical one consists of a multi-layer polyester filter that filters out particles down to 0.3 microns. If Pollen Tec works at all, it is because greatly reduces the air flow compared to an open window. Air flow is directly proportional to the cross sectional area through which it is passing. PollenTec screen has roughly 20% of the flow area of an open window. This comes close to matching PollenTec’s own results. On its web site, PollenTec displays a positive report from ECARP (European Centre for Allergy Research) in which PollenTec screen eliminated 90% of the pollens passing from Room B to Room. This result is directly in line with an 80% reduction in flow area. So effectively, Pollen Tec functions as a closed window. (By the way – try to find the ECARP report on Pollen Tec, even on ECARP’s own web site. Good luck – I couldn’t find it anywhere. It would be more convincing if this report existed somewhere besides only on Pollentec.com) But even though I have the air-flow limiting Pollen Tec screen installed in the single open window in my bedroom, pollens are still getting inside. We live in a moderately breezy area, and I can only surmise that even though I’m getting 80% less air flow through the screen, there is still enough wind pressure to drive pollens into the house. Yes, I am certain it’s the bedroom window causing the allergy symptoms. Closed window = no symptoms; open window = symptoms. I can say it was worth the experiment to buy a roll of PollenTec. I am always hopeful of a magic bullet to make my night time allergies go away. Unfortunately, PollenTec wasn’t it. It does make the view outside really blurry, which is kind of cool in a science lab sort of way. The screen is effectively a diffraction grating like you would use in high school physics. Two stars for the blurred vision!