Tag Archives: New Products

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.

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According to the American Lung Association, more than 40 percent of Americans breathe in dirty air every day. That’s the findings from the association’s annual State of the Air report, which tabulates the quality of air in cities across the United States, factoring in smog, air pollution, carbon monoxide levels from car exhaust and spikes in temperature, which “cooks” pollution to make it more intense. The overall effect: dirty air can cause difficulty in breathing, decrease life expectancy and may even contribute to lung cancer.

Given the topographical shape of California—it resembles a bowl that traps bad air at lower levels, instead of allowing it to float into the atmosphere—it’s no wonder that a number of the cities with the worst pollution are from the so-called Golden State. The Los Angeles area ranked number one on the list of most polluted cities over a 24-hour period, followed by the Bakersfield, Visalia, and Fresno, CA areas, respectively. Fairbanks, AK ranked fourth, primarily because a great number of residents use wood-burning stoves and fireplaces for heating; these appliances cause the releases of harmful chemicals that linger in the air.

Top 10 Most Polluted Cities:

1.Los Angeles – Riverside – Orange County, CA
2.Bakersfield, CA
3.Visalia, CA
4.Fresco, CA
5.Fairbanks, AK
6.Modesto, CA
7.San Jose – San Francisco – Oakland, CA
8.Salt Lake City – Provo – Orem, UT
9.El Centro, CA
10.Pittsburgh, PA

For the most polluted cities with annualized results, Fairbanks, AK took top (dis)honors. This means the city had the worst year-round results. In terms of most polluted cities with regard to ozone production, Los Angeles, CA ranked first.

And cleanest cities?

That would be Cheyenne, WY, followed by Honolulu, HI and Casper, WY, because they have relatively smaller population centers.

Still, the numbers are alarming. What’s more, given that indoor air is two to five times more polluted than outdoor air, there’s real concern about the air we breathe. Simply staying indoors on high-ozone days doesn’t cut it.

Instead. You need to ensure that indoor air is clean. The best way to do that, in our opinion: get an AeraMax Professional air purifier. The complete line of professional-grade air purifiers effectively and efficiently clean indoor air, removing up to 99.97 percent of harmful contaminants—like germs, viruses, odors, volatile organic compounds, odors and pollutants—from indoor air, using hospital-grade True HEPA filtration.

So, while you can’t necessarily move from your area to get better air, you can make the air better, with AeraMax Professional.

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These days, facility managers have more responsibilities. More occupant interaction, more belt-tightening decisions—and more opportunities to truly affect change in their facility. This is why the director of the Healthy Buildings Program at the Harvard Center for Health and the Global Environment, Joseph Allen, Ph.D., stated that a facility manager has more of an impact in the health and well-being of the occupants than physicians.

Find out more about how you can clean smarter, not harder.

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Billionaire philanthropist and tech pioneer Bill Gates recently visited Geneva, Switzerland on a mission: to find the worst smell he could inhale and still remain standing. Sounds like a more of a wacky fraternity stunt than a fact-finding mission from one of the richest men in the world, but there was method to his madness.

Why?

In many parts of the developing world, disease runs rampant from the creation of makeshift bathrooms and outhouses; oftentimes the use of open pit latrines is bypassed by people because of the overpowering smells. In those cases, people then “create” their own facilities, going anywhere and everywhere out in public. This results in a massive sanitation issue with the spread of more germs and disease, and increases the instances of rats carrying and passing along these diseases at a rapid rate. In fact, 800,000 children die annually from sanitation-related illnesses.

The Thinking

And so, Gates found himself at a renowned perfume and scent laboratory, sniffing from decanters of foul-smelling liquids developed specifically for him. By identifying the most rancid smell, researchers at the lab think they can reverse-engineer a fragrance to combat that smell, by breaking down the liquid to a molecular level and counteracting the molecules. Then, the fragrance could be used to mask smells in open air latrines in developing countries, blocking receptors in the nose that identify bad smells. The thinking: If the smell was mitigated, more people would use the latrines, which eliminates the spread of fecal matter in open areas and reduce disease.

The researchers have a long way to go, but with Gates’ commitment to the project, a light has been shone on the need to eliminate odors. What’s more, odors aren’t just a problem in the developing world. In developed countries, bathroom odors can adversely affect a company’s perception among employees and guests. But unlike the developing world, odors needn’t be masked in “first world” countries.

The Power of Aeramax PRO

For example, AeraMax® Professional commercial-grade air purifiers not only remove germs, allergens and bacteria from indoor spaces like bathrooms, but they also use unique carbon filters to capture bathroom odors from indoor air. So, instead of masking odors with heavy perfumes, AeraMax Professional air purifiers truly scrub the air, offering facility managers an effective and efficient way of solving an age-old problem.

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At the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show, the focus was on the “Internet of Things:” the interconnectivity of devices with lifestyles and constant feedback via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. So, you now have refrigerators that can alert you when you’re running low on milk, or home security systems that also change lighting to fit your mood.

One company, Plume Labs, introduced a wearable air quality monitor for the general public at CES. Called Flow, the device is meant to crowdsource data on air quality and monitor pollution as a person goes about their workday and evening. The thinking: With more data, consumers can make informed decisions about pollution solutions.

The monitor resembles a perforated tube with a leather-like strap that allows you to affix it to your backpack, clothing, a stroller, your bike…you name it. By taking it with you, and syncing it to an app—naturally—you’d get a readout of particulate matter and dust levels, nitrogen oxide from car emissions, ozone and volatile organic compound levels, as well as outside temperature and humidity.

Because other people around your area will also have continuous readings from their Flow devices, the app will aggregate crowd-sourced data to provide maps of problem areas, as well as places with better air.

Flow could become a good way to see what’s happening in the air around you, which is a perfect transition to actually combatting bad air, like installing AeraMax® Professional air purifiers in workplaces.

Flow will be launched nationwide later this year; pricing is yet to be determined.

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