Why does the carbon in an activated carbon air filter smell, and is it harmful?

Question

I just bought an AllerAir Vocarb 5000. It says it's ready to go on arrival, so I plugged it in and turned it on TURBO (says to do this for a few minutes when introducing it into a new room, to readjust the air currents)..... Anyway, after around a half hour of having it running, I began to smell, and rather strongly, what I believe to have been the activated carbon. Is the smell OK and not harmful? Oh, and, when I first turned it on TURBO, I was kneeling right in front of it, and it blasted my face with air. There's no hazardous particulates that mighta been ejected out and onto my skin or anything from it, is there?

Answer 1

Carbon is inert.  You wouldn't hurt yourself