Tag Archives: air purifiers

In recent years, the scientific community has accelerated efforts to combat air pollution and poor air quality with every defense in its arsenal—after all, many cities across the world experience hazardous levels of pollution, and more cities join the list every day.

So, it’s no wonder scientists have taken to some extreme measures in hopes for a cure-all. To this end, researchers recently focused efforts on finding a solution to indoor pollution; indoor air quality is often two to five times more polluted than outdoor air. So, scientists at the University of Washington genetically modified a strain of the common houseplant Pothos Ivy to actively remove benzene and chloroform from the air in controlled lab settings. Benzene is a known carcinogen and is found in secondhand smoke; chloroform is a probable human carcinogen.

Pothos Ivy to actively remove benzene and chloroform from the air in controlled lab settings

The scientists modified the genetic makeup of the plant, introducing a protein that proved to absorb and degrade benzene and chloroform in the air in small amounts. While promising, the results are still a long way from providing large-scale relief…but have encouraged researchers to explore more genetic modification avenues to improve indoor air quality.

Currently, there is a simpler way to improve indoor air quality—the complete line of AeraMax Professional air purifiers removes up to 99.97 percent of airborne contaminants like allergens, bacteria, volatile organic compounds, germs and viruses from indoor spaces such as offices, labs and common areas. Using sophisticated four-stage True HEPA filtration systems, the purifiers automatically scan indoor settings and scrub the air when contaminants are present.

In recent years, scientists and health care professionals have focused more attention on the effects of poor indoor quality in a variety of settings. Two recent studies have turned the spotlight on an area that historically has been rife with germs, viruses and bad air: daycare centers.

Because daycare centers cater to children from infants to toddlers to pre-school-aged children, the chances of passing along germs and bacteria are relatively high.

The Finnish Study

So researchers in the city of Espoo, Finland—part of the metropolitan Helsinki area—looked at a random sample of 30 daycare centers to determine overall indoor air quality, gauging humidity, CO2 concentrations, temperature, airflow and other metrics.

In recent years, scientists and health care professionals have focused more attention on the effects of poor indoor quality in a variety of settings; two recent studies have turned the spotlight on an area that historically has been rife with germs, viruses and bad air: daycare centers.

If the air quality was already compromised, it would be made worse with the introduction of germs, viruses and bacteria. They took air samples during a one-day period and found air quality across the board was poor.

  • CO2 levels were charted beyond safe limits.
  • Older buildings not using newer HVAC systems experienced the worst levels.
  • Airflow was inadequate and temperature and humidity levels varied.

Children and staff were not well served, and air quality levels needed significant improvement. Surveys conducted with staff members cited unpleasant odors as the most prevalent perceptual problem.

The South Korean Study

But the bad air in childcare facilities is not isolated to Finland. A similar study was conducted by researchers in Seoul, Korea, where measurements were taken at 25 daycare centers. The researchers found high levels of the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene and styrene in the air. Their findings also showed significant levels of bacteria and mold, which was prevalent because of water damage to older centers and buildings. The study concluded that much more needed to be done to ensure healthier environments for children with still developing respiratory systems.

But what to do?

One answer lies in actually cleaning the air. AeraMax Professional air purifiers have been proven to effectively and efficiently remove contaminants from indoor air. Using a True HEPA hospital-type filtration system, AeraMax can rid the air of bacteria, VOCs, viruses, odors, germs and other irritants. It removes up to 99.97 percent of these pollutants from indoor air, sensing when the air needs to be clean automatically.

To see how AeraMax Professional helped childcare centers and nurseries, check out our case studies. Daycare facilities from France to Canada trust AeraMax Professional to make their facilities cleaner and healthier.

With the advent of AeraMax Professional’s new PureView™ technology, facility personnel, office managers and others in fields ranging from dental labs and manufacturing to daycare centers, health care institutions, educational centers and more can actually see these commercial-grade air purifiers working. That’s because they make the invisible—germs, bacteria, volatile organic compounds, odors, viruses and the like—visible.

PureView uses an innovative EnviroSmart 2.0 technology, which employs laser PM2.5 sensors to scan and analyze a room, activating the air purification system when contaminants are present. Because each unit has a large digital display, occupants can see the cleaning progress.

Pureview

The display showcases when heavy pollutants are in the air with a red alert graphic. When a higher fan speed is needed, the display will indicate ‘cleaning’ and cycles through a purification process.

The on-screen air quality grade (clean, fair and poor) is closely tied to US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and World Health Organization (WHO) recommended air quality levels.

As the PureView technology continues removing particulates from the air, the display will show a readout of the percentage of particles captured, changing to a yellow graphic. When the graphic turns green, the air is clean. Also, the display offers a visual readout of VOCs and odors in the air to let occupants know the contaminants are being removed.

It’s bad enough that the dental profession has been called the most dangerous by the U.S. Department of Labor, now it has to contend with another problem: Silicosis.

Silicosis is something more closely related to the construction industry, where workers breathe in silica dust from construction materials. It results in the scarring of lung tissue from the silica dust, and produces symptoms like coughing, wheezing, sharp chest pains and even fevers. Left untreated, it results in difficulty breathing and even death.

Silicosis is something more closely related to the construction industry, where workers breathe in silica dust from construction materials

So how does the dental profession also suffer from a malady that most often affects rock miners, stone cutters and heavy construction personnel? Seems the grinding that occurs in dental labs and in dental offices produces the same dusty environment. But where construction workers wear elaborate rebreathers to protect against inhaling dust, dental professionals often are left only with surgical masks—or nothing at all.

According to the Centers for Disease Control’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports (MMWR), research into occupational illness uncovered nine cases where dental professionals had silicosis from long-term exposure—and in some cases, the individuals died from respiratory failure. The MMWR noted that exposure to silica dust in dental labs can occur from mixing powders, removing castings from molds, polishing castings and using silica sand for abrasive blasting and sanding.

Silicosis is something more closely related to the construction industry, where workers breathe in silica dust from construction materials

One way to protect against silicosis is by focusing on air hygiene—scrubbing indoor air of harmful contaminants. AeraMax Professional commercial-grade air purifiers do just that—eliminating up to 99.97 percent of harmful pollutants like germs, dust, allergens, viruses, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and odors from enclosed spaces, using hospital-like True HEPA filtration that efficiently and effectively cleans the air.

Using AeraMax Professional air purifiers significantly reduce particulate from indoor air, ensuring that dental lab workers needn’t worry about the hazards of working in lab settings. What’s more, with AeraMax Professional’s PureView technology, occupants can see the purifier’s work in removing particulate from the air.

PureView uses an innovative EnviroSmart 2.0 technology, which employs sensors to scan and analyze a room, activating the air purification system when contaminants are present. Because each unit has a large digital display, occupants can see the cleaning progress.

When cleaning begins, the display announces it in bold letters and cycles through a purification process. As the AeraMax Professional air purifier continues removing particulates from the air, the display will show a readout of the percentage of particles captured. Also, the display offers a visual readout of VOCs and odors in the air to let occupants know the contaminants are being removed.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the dental profession is one of the most dangerous, because of the typical working conditions and chances of breathing in harmful contaminants.

But some of the dangers affecting dental lab workers aren’t because of dust coming from the substrates they work with—germs, bacteria and viruses affect workers, too. Given the close proximity of work stations and workers, the threat of catching the flu or germ-spread diseases is very real.

So how can the dental profession combat contaminants? There are several ways.

First, supervisors should encourage workers who are ill to stay away—sounds harsh, but the transmission of flu and viruses can be greatly reduced by ensuring sick workers stay home.

They should frequently wash their hands to remove any germs they might come in contact with on common surfaces, like doorknobs, tabletops and the like.

And for those workers who are on-the-job?

They should frequently wash their hands to remove any germs they might come in contact with on common surfaces, like doorknobs, tabletops and the like.

The complete line of AeraMax Professional air purifiers does just that, removing up to 99.97 percent of contaminants—like viruses, germs, bacteria, allergens, volatile organic compounds and odors—from indoor air. Using hospital-like True HEPA filtration, these purifiers sense when the air is dirty and work quietly and efficiently to automatically rid the air of pollutants. As an added bonus, commercial-grade AeraMax Professional air purifiers help dental labs keep ahead of the ever-present problem of airborne dust derived from grinding and casting molds.