Increasingly, false air quality certificates are used to win public tenders

Even market leaders do not shy away from this.

When closely examining such certificates, one quickly realizes that they are mostly certificates for DIN EN 12021:2014 written by the manufacturer itself.

DIN EN 12021:2014 is a European standard that clearly specifies how the breathing air must be composed or what concentration of pollutants may be contained in the breathing air. These self-generated certificates supposedly give the user the security that his compressor always supplies pure breathing air that complies with the standard.

Only the small print refers to possible air pollution in the intake area and to the manufacturer's installation instructions.

But this is a fallacy, because the compressor only compresses the air that it sucks in.

If the compressor is located near a large parking lot, a busy street, in poorly ventilated small spaces, etc., it may draw in too much CO or CO2 and pump this harmful gas into the respirator.

How can a manufacturer guarantee this by means of a certificate without knowing the local conditions?

Many users are of the opinion that the downstream filter system of the compressor filters out these pollutants, this is an absolute misconception. The term "FILTER", which has been used for decades, is also incorrect. Actually, it is a dryer unit. The so-called filter cartridge is filled with MOLEKULASIEB and a little activated carbon. With the molecular sieve, only the residual moisture contained in the compressed air is filtered out, and with the small amount of activated carbon, the oil odor contained in the moisture is filtered out.

The dryer unit does not filter CO or CO2 from the compressed air in any way. The standard does not so much concern the manufacturer as the operator, who must ensure that the air he pumps into the cylinders complies with DIN EN 12021:2014 at all times.

Many users are not aware of this, but in the event of an accident, the filling personnel bear the responsibility. For this reason, only systems with ONLINE air quality monitoring are actually used in the public sector, so that accidents cannot happen and filling personnel are not exposed to any liability risk.