This week, something remarkable is happening. The world’s greatest winter athletes are competing at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics. On Sunday, the best football players on the planet will take the field at Super Bowl LX. Watching these men and women push the limits of human performance is nothing short of astonishing.
I find myself thinking about what makes their achievements possible. It is not just talent or training. It is the extraordinary machine they live in: the human body.
Your body performs miracles you never see. Right now, as you read this, your immune system is scanning for threats, repairing cells, and keeping you in the fight. Elite athletes know this better than anyone. Their teams invest in nutrition, recovery, and training environments because they understand one simple truth: when the body is burdened by environmental stressors, performance suffers.[1]
This is not just an athlete’s problem. It is yours, too.
Consider this: you take approximately 20,000 breaths every day.[2] Each one of those breaths pulls air into your lungs, and with it, whatever is floating in that air. Particulate matter. Volatile organic compounds like formaldehyde, benzene, and acetone. Mold spores. Mycotoxins. The EPA confirms that particulate matter is present in all indoor environments, originating from cooking, cleaning, building materials, and outdoor air that seeps inside.[3]
Here is what keeps me up at night. Indoor air is often two to five times more polluted than outdoor air.[4] We spend roughly 90% of our time indoors.[5] That means the vast majority of those 20,000 daily breaths are happening inside spaces where the air quality may be far worse than we realize.
Now, many people turn to HEPA filters. HEPA technology was a breakthrough when it was developed, and it serves a purpose. However, HEPA filters work by trapping particles as air passes through a dense mesh. They rely entirely on airflow to push contaminants into the filter medium.[6] Anything that does not reach the filter does not get caught. More importantly, volatile organic compounds, which exist as gases at the molecular level, pass right through.[7]
WellisAir takes a fundamentally different approach. Our patented hydroxyl generator creates the same hydroxyls that nature produces in forests and in the earth’s atmosphere. Hydroxyls are often called “the detergent of the atmosphere” by atmospheric scientists because they actively seek out and break down contaminants at the molecular level.[8] They do not wait for pollutants to float into a filter. They go to work, neutralizing harmful contaminants on particles, on surfaces, and in the air itself, then converting them into harmless byproducts like trace amounts of water vapor and CO2.[9]
Here is why this matters for you and your family. A landmark 2022 study published in Nature Medicine by Columbia University researchers found that inhaled environmental pollutants accumulate inside immune cells in the lymph nodes connected to the lungs. Over time, these particles compromise the immune system’s ability to fight respiratory infections.[10] Peer-reviewed research in Free Radical Biology and Medicine further confirms that air pollution disrupts immune cell functioning, weakening the body’s natural defenses.[11]
Think about that. Every contaminant your body has to process is energy spent. It is bandwidth your immune system cannot use for what it was designed to do: keep you healthy, keep you strong, keep you present for your family.
I think about this every single day. Years ago, my daughter Violet missed an entire year of school because of mold toxicity. That experience changed my life and led me to WellisAir. I did not want another family to go through what we went through. That mission has not changed.
The human body is extraordinary. The athletes competing this week will remind us of that in spectacular fashion. Your body is performing its own extraordinary feats every single day. With WellisAir, you give it the cleanest possible environment to do what it does best.
You deserve every one of your 20,000 daily breaths to be as fresh as mountain air.
Breathe safely,
Bruce Somers, Jr.
CEO, WellisAir
CEO, WellisAir
These are personal experiences, not medical claims. We want to be clear: in no way are we suggesting symptom removal, reversal, or reduction.
References and Sources
[1] Bougault, V. et al. (2025). “Air quality, respiratory health and performance: a summary of the IOC consensus subgroup narrative review on Acute Respiratory Illness in Athletes.” British Journal of Sports Medicine, 59(7), 480-490. See also: Rundell, K.W. (2012). “Effect of air pollution on athlete health and performance.” British Journal of Sports Medicine, 46(6), 407-412. Research confirms air pollution adversely affects athletic performance during both training and competition, with pollutants causing oxidative damage and inflammation in the airways.
[2] The average adult respiratory rate at rest is 12 to 20 breaths per minute. Sources: American Lung Association, “Understanding Vital Signs: The Importance of Your Respiratory Rate”; Cleveland Clinic, “Vital Signs”; Physiopedia, “Respiratory Rate.” At an average of approximately 15 breaths per minute, this yields roughly 21,600 breaths per day. The figure of 20,000 is the commonly cited rounded estimate.
[3] U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. “Sources of Indoor Particulate Matter (PM).” EPA.gov. The EPA identifies indoor PM sources including biological contaminants (mold spores, pet dander, dust mites), particles from cooking and cleaning, consumer products, and outdoor PM that infiltrates buildings.
[4] U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. “The Inside Story: A Guide to Indoor Air Quality.” EPA.gov. The EPA states that indoor levels of pollutants may be two to five times, and occasionally more than 100 times, higher than outdoor levels.
[5] Klepeis, N.E. et al. (2001). “The National Human Activity Pattern Survey (NHAPS): A Resource for Assessing Exposure to Environmental Pollutants.” Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology, 11, 231-252.
[6] U.S. EPA. “What is a HEPA filter?” and “Guide to Air Cleaners in the Home.” EPA.gov. HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filters capture particles by forcing air through a fine mesh. The filter’s effectiveness depends on air being drawn through the filtration medium.
[7] U.S. EPA. “Guide to Air Cleaners in the Home.” EPA.gov. Standard mechanical filters, including HEPA, are designed to remove particles. They do not remove gaseous pollutants such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) including formaldehyde, benzene, and other chemicals.
[8] Heard, D.E. & Pilling, M.J. (2003). “Measurement of OH and HO2 in the Troposphere.” Chemical Reviews, 103(12), 5163-5198. Hydroxyl radicals are widely recognized as the primary oxidizing agent responsible for the removal of most trace gases and pollutants in the troposphere.
[9] WellisAir patented hydroxyl generator technology. The oxidation process breaks down organic contaminants, with the primary end products being trace quantities of water vapor (H₂O) and carbon dioxide (CO₂). See also: Weschler, C.J. (2011). “Chemistry in indoor environments.” Environmental Science & Technology, 45(6), 2270-2276.
[10] Ural, B.B. et al. (2022). “Inhaled particulate accumulation with age impairs immune function and architecture of the lung-associated lymph nodes.” Nature Medicine, 28, 2622-2632. Columbia University Irving Medical Center. The study found that inhaled particles from environmental pollutants accumulate over decades inside immune cells in lymph nodes associated with the lung, eventually weakening the cells’ ability to fight respiratory infections.
[11] Glencross, D.A. et al. (2020). “Air pollution and its effects on the immune system.” Free Radical Biology and Medicine, 151, 56-68. The review confirms that a well-functioning immune system is vital for a healthy body, and that ambient pollutants disrupt immune homeostasis, potentially leading to increased susceptibility to infections, allergies, and autoimmune conditions.
