Tag Archives: air quality

The recent coronavirus pandemic has placed a spotlight on school safety and the reopening of classrooms across the United States; a mix of local mandates and orders have kept some kids home with virtual learning, while others have opted for in-person classes. Still, parents, school officials and community members are concerned about the health and welfare of children in classrooms.

And for good reason. Kids spend upwards of 1,000 hours in classrooms each year—and those classrooms often have poor indoor air quality, what with germs, viruses, odors and bacteria floating in stale, recirculated air. This air quality is one reason childhood asthma is on the rise: according to the Centers for Disease Control, asthma increased by 25 percent between 2001 and 2011, with an increase highest among Black children at more than a 50 percent jump. Indeed, 5.5 million children under the age of 18 are affected by asthma. And, according to the CDC, poor indoor air quality can trigger asthma events.

Kids in school wearing masks

Air needs to be a priority.

While wearing masks inside classrooms and school buildings can help mitigate the spread of COVID-19, wearing masks can’t solve the health concerns entirely. Instead, focusing on cleaning indoor air is a priority. For example, the Environmental Protection Agency believes improving indoor air quality can reduce absenteeism, boost performance and enhance test scores.

A key to improving indoor air lies in exploring the ventilation system and the ability to provide more air exchanges per hour. To this end, many schools can’t overhaul their existing HVAC systems, but can augment them with standalone units. According to Joshua Santarpia, a microbiologist at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, air purifiers—like our own line of AeraMax Professional commercial grade units—could “dramatically reduce airborne contaminants.”

Public health experts advocate air filtration and ventilation

That sentiment is echoed by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, which advocates for freestanding air filtration units to complement existing HVAC systems in schools to reduce airborne contaminants.

And while portable air purification units can augment the use of Personal Protective Equipment, like face masks and shields, there’s an added benefit: they help the overall cleaning process for schools, which typically focus on hand washing and surface cleaning.

Classroom with Aeramax Pro

School administrators see the benefits

That’s what Oglethorpe Avenue Elementary School in Athens, Georgia found out when it installed AeraMax Professional air purifiers in select classrooms. These commercial-grade four-stage filtration systems feature HEPA filters to effectively and efficiently remove up to 99.97 percent of airborne contaminants, like the flu, bacteria, germs, viruses, odors and volatile organic compounds, for classroom air.

“Within the first week of installation, we could tell a difference in the rooms,” Dr. Scarlett Dunne, principal at Oglethorpe, said. “There was a noticeable change…It smelled much fresher and we could see a difference in (the amount of) coughing and sneezing.” Facilities personnel also noticed less dust on surfaces, accelerating the nightly cleaning process.

Additionally, a survey conducted by administrators of teachers showed that the teachers also felt better. Likewise, anecdotal conversations with parents revealed that the parents noticed a difference in their children’s health.

So, AeraMax Professional can be an integral part in bringing about a new normal to classrooms, one involving more than just face masks and social distancing. Instead, this new normal will hinge on one thing: fresher air.

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Recent news on COVID-19 airborne threat

Until now, there have been conflicting messages related to the risk of the airborne transmission of COVID-19. A group of 239 scientists in 32 countries have published their open letter to global health community to present the evidence.

In their letter, the highly qualified group state:

  • Multiple studies “have demonstrated beyond any reasonable doubt that viruses are released during exhalation, talking, and coughing in microdoplets small enough to remain aloft in the air”.
  • These microdroplets “pose a risk of exposure at distances beyond [3 to 6 feet] from an infected individual”.
  • “we are advocating for the use of preventive measures to mitigate this route of airborne transmission.”

Read the full text of the letter: It is Time to Address Airborne Transmission of COVID-19

What we know about COVID-19

As discussed above, the highly qualified group of 239 scientists highlight in their open letter that multiple studies:

“have demonstrated beyond any reasonable doubt that viruses are released during exhalation, talking, and coughing in microdoplets small enough to remain aloft in the air”

Surfaces and COVID-19

While it’s believed that COVID-19 spreads from person-to-person contact, officials haven’t ruled out surface contact as a potential source of contagion. It’s just too early to tell.

In fact, recent tests on the coronavirus COVID-19 showed it can stay active on various surfaces. Researchers found viable coronavirus samples could live for up to:

  • 24 hours on cardboard
  • four hours on copper surfaces
  • two to three days on plastic and stainless steel.

During tests, the researchers also found the coronavirus could be detected in the air up to three hours after emission, making it vital that people clean the air.

The importance of cleaning

While the majority of COVID-19 cases are derived from person-to-person contact, we can’t overemphasize the importance of proper room cleaning.

So, while many people have stressing surface and hand cleaning, the addition of cleaning the air will undoubtedly help manage enclosed spaces. AeraMax Professional’s four-stage system, with True HEPA filtration, can effectively and efficiently build on the hand and surface cleaning routines.

Where AeraMax Professional can help

We do know that AeraMax Professional air purifiers can mitigate additional pathogens in the air where people are infected, removing pollutants from air and reducing risks for people already infected.

AeraMax Professional air purifiers:

  • are certified to be effective in reducing airborne concentrations of influenza A (H1N1) aerosol in a test chamber, reaching 99.9% airborne virus reduction within the first 35 minutes of operation.
  • are certified to capture 99.97% of pollutants at 0.3 microns
  • can capture more than 97.8% of pollutants at 0.1-0.15 microns, via IBR Laboratories test data.

What’s more, an AeraMax Professional III with PureView Technology can sense when airborne contamination is present in a room, automatically adjusting cleaning to remove the offending particles from the air. This is ideal for places like assisted living facilities, where residents already have compromised immune and respiratory systems.

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FACT: No air purifier can stop the COVID-19 coronavirus. 

While AeraMax Professional air purifiers are highly effective at removing various viruses and airborne pollutants from enclosed spaces, NO AIR PURIFIER CAN CURRENTLY CLAIM TO CAPTURE AND ELIMINATE COVID-19—it is simply too early to know. Still, AeraMax Professional air purifiers should be considered as part of a broader proactive hygiene strategy.

What we know about COVID-19

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC):

“It may be possible that a person can get COVID-19 by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly their eyes, but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads.”

It’s primarily believed the majority of cases are contracted by person-to-person spread. That means a person who is infected can infect another person in close contact (about 6 feet or less) by sneezing or coughing. Respiratory droplets can then land on the mouths and/or noses of uninfected people close by.

Surfaces and COVID-19

While it’s believed that COVID-19 spreads from person-to-person contact, officials haven’t ruled out surface contact as a potential source of contagion. It’s just too early to tell.

In fact, recent tests on the coronavirus COVID-19 showed it can stay active on various surfaces. Researchers found viable coronavirus samples could live for up to:

  • 24 hours on cardboard
  • four hours on copper surfaces
  • two to three days on plastic and stainless steel.

During tests, the researchers also found the coronavirus could be detected in the air up to three hours after emission, making it vital that people clean the air.

Similarities to other viruses

Some researchers in South Korea have found genetic similarities between COVID-19 and the SARS virus; This offers hope that AeraMax Professional air purifiers can be deployed in the battle to stop the spread of COVID-19, as AeraMax Professional is able to capture the SARS virus using its four-stage filtration system. However, we don’t currently know the size of COVID-19 particles, so this is, at this time, speculation.  

The importance of cleaning

While the majority of COVID-19 cases are derived from person-to-person contact, we can’t overemphasize the importance of proper room cleaning.

So, while many people have stressing surface and hand cleaning, the addition of cleaning the air will undoubtedly help manage enclosed spaces. AeraMax Professional’s four-stage system, with True HEPA filtration, can effectively and efficiently build on the hand and surface cleaning routines.

Where AeraMax Professional can help

We do know that AeraMax Professional air purifiers can mitigate additional pathogens in the air where people are infected, removing pollutants from air and reducing risks for people already infected.

AeraMax Professional air purifiers:

  • are certified to be effective in reducing airborne concentrations of influenza A (H1N1) aerosol in a test chamber, reaching 99.9% airborne virus reduction within the first 35 minutes of operation.
  • are certified to capture 99.97% of pollutants at 0.3 microns
  • can capture more than 97.8% of pollutants at 0.1-0.15 microns, via IBR Laboratories test data.

What’s more, an AeraMax Professional III with PureView Technology can sense when airborne contamination is present in a room, automatically adjusting cleaning to remove the offending particles from the air. This is ideal for places like assisted living facilities, where residents already have compromised immune and respiratory systems.

Moving forward

The situation regarding COVID-19 is fluid, with new information reshaping the landscape almost daily. As more information becomes available, we will include it so you are armed with decision-making power.

For more information visit:

https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prepare/transmission.html

Compiled with publicly available information as of March 11, 2020. 

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It didn’t look like a study in air pollution. It only took a few minutes, year after year after year. Once a year, select students in schools across southern California, were taken out of class, marched down to a gym or empty classroom and were met by a researcher. There, they were asked to blow into a spirometer, which measured lung capacity, and were asked a series of mundane questions about their living environment. Then they got their height and weight checked before heading back to class.

Little did they know the data collected from all those children—12,000 kids in all—created the framework for the most extensive study into the effects of air pollution.

Air Pollution effects growing lungs

The USC Children’s Health Study found that children living in the towns most effected by air pollution were five times as likely to have weakened lung capacity—20 percent weaker—than kids living in towns and cities where air pollution was less prevalent. That diminished lung capacity meant long-term health problems.

Air pollution affects growing bodies more than we may have realized.

What’s more, researchers found their original hypothesis was incorrect.

At the start of the study, they thought ozone, a component of the air pollution and thick smog that blankets southern California, would be a prime cause of stunted lung development in the children. However, they found there were a combination of tiny airborne pollutants—small as PM2.5—and nitrogen dioxide from car exhausts to blame also.

 

Long term implications & treatments

The study has had far-reaching implications on air pollution and has affected everything from manufacturing regulations to environmental policy. It also has created significant awareness regarding outdoor and indoor air quality. In fact, given that indoor air has been proven to be between two to five times more polluted than outdoor air, one might argue that concerns about indoor air quality should be even greater.

Luckily, there is a way to significantly decrease those concerns. The complete line of AeraMax Professional commercial-grade air purifiers can effectively and efficiently remove PM2.5 airborne pollutants—like germs, allergens, bacteria, viruses and volatile organic compounds—from enclosed spaces, drastically improving indoor air quality. The purifiers use a unique four-stage filtration system that traps these particles, removing 99.97 percent of pollutants from indoor air.

The AeraMax Professional purifiers employ patented EnviroSmart™ Technology that senses sound, motion and odors in a room, automatically adjusting to optimize performance. So, the units work only when required, conserving energy and maximizing operations while working in the background to improve the lives and health of occupants.

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