Concentrated Contamination Capture is the Route to Cost Effectiveness

ICS is Active in Europe as Well as the U.S. with Certification Services

JABIL Delivering Three Ply Surgical Masks from Memphis Facility

American Surgical Mask Producing Up to 150,000 Surgical Masks per Day

Lanaco is and is Not Sheepish About Their Filters

Extraction Arm from Nederman is a Great CCC Example

Freudenberg has the Products to Create Safe Bubbles.

Pfizer and Moderna Vaccines Less Effective Against South African  Variant

Education Week Weighs in on School Ventilation

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Concentrated Contamination Capture is the Route to Cost Effectiveness

There are two ways to battle COVID: avoidance and or capture. Avoidance involves lockdowns and social distancing and should be minimized if capture will provide the same level of safety.  Capture can very cost effective  depending on the degree of  Concentrated Contaminant Capture (CCC)

The cost of capture is a function of the amount of air treated and not the amount of contamination removed So the goal is CCC.

The ultimate in diluted capture is the cleanroom. If you have an entire ceiling of HEPA filters and you blow air through them and then provide a perforated floor to insure all contaminants flow down and out, then that may be all you need.  But keep in mind that the Class 100  cleanroom cost is typically $1000/ft2. But even with all this filtered air it is recognized that people shed millions of skin particles as well as potential viruses and therefore all the cleanroom personnel have more PPE than would a surgeon.

It is well recognized that once contaminants are dispersed it is very costly to filter them. The reason is simple. Cost is a function of the amount of air processed and not the amount of contaminants removed. A mask can eliminate all the COVID-19 generated by the wearer and handle less than 1 cfm and a total cost of a few dollars.

If a localized capture device such as the Nederman extraction arm, described today in Coronavirus Technology Solutions, is utilized, most of the contaminant is captured with less than 100 cfm.

A room air purifier in the bedroom of an infected person can remove as much contaminant with 500 cfm as would a house HVAC system with 5,000 cfm.

If both transmitter and recipient are wearing efficient masks then other measures such as social distancing become minor by comparison. All the controversy over occupancy rates is better served focusing on mask efficiency including penetration and leakage. There is a direct numerical relationship between occupancy rate and mask effectiveness. If people wear masks which are 60% effective and the occupancy rate is 60% the risks is the same as with people wearing 90% effective masks and the occupancy rate is 90%.

 

ICS is Active in Europe as Well as the U.S. with Certification Services

ICS Laboratories is a leading source for accredited third-party conformity assessment of respiratory protective equipment. ICS tests respirators, filters, cartridges and their many associated devices and accessories to a wide range of US (NIOSH), European (EN) and Australian (AS/NZS) standards. Their capabilities are extensive and range from disposable half-mask filtering face piece respirators to specialized equipment designed to protect against chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear respiratory hazards (CBRN).

Within the European Union, regulations mandate that personal protective products be CE-certified before they can legally be placed on the market. ICS Laboratories is a complete resource for any manufacturer seeking to attain CE certification in order to sell their protective equipment in the United Kingdom or Europe. ICS’ facilities and personnel enable it to offer the most competitive prices and lead times for the requisite EN and ISO tests that must support CE certification for PPE. Beyond the utmost quality test work and the associated endorsed reports, ICS Labs truly makes CE-certification a turn-key service for their clients, coordinating documentation and facilitating assembly and review of the final technical file.

ICS Laboratories is accredited to perform conformity assessments on a wide range of Category 2 and Category 3 PPE according to EN and ISO product standards and test methods. ICS has cultivated a working relationship with CCQS UK, a premier certification organization. CCQS is a registered European Notified Body and is positioned to efficiently process CE certifications for products that are tested by ICS Labs. They maintain contacts throughout the world, and operate an office in the Republic of Ireland, enabling hassle-free processing CE-mark processing with regard to the Brexit narrative.

Working together, ICS Laboratories and CCQS offer an integrated resource for personal protective equipment manufacturers working to comply with EU PPE Regulation 2016/425. Both organizations are accredited and internationally recognized as experts at their respective functions: conformity assessment and product certification. ICS not only has expertise in protective equipment testing, but through decades of experience, has also attained familiarity with certification programs and schemes over the world. Their alliances with highly competent organizations means that their CE-certification customers receive valuable information and attentive support through the certification process.

 

JABIL Delivering Three Ply Surgical Masks from Memphis Facility

Jabil announced that together with its subsidiary medical device company, NP Medical, Inc., the company is ready to deliver personal protective equipment (PPE) orders of medical-quality, FDA-cleared, made in USA face masks, directly and reliably sourced through Jabil’s U.S.-based operations in Memphis, Tennessee. As a GSA-Schedule holder, Jabil is positioned to quickly support the mask mandate recently issued by President Biden, requiring individuals to wear masks on federal property as well as on planes, trains, buses and at airports.

“Our work with local and state governments to fulfill high-volume orders of PPE made in the USA means the general population can get access to these highly effective masks,” said Charlie Main, senior vice president of business development, Jabil. “Designed to meet the stringent protection requirements of operating room personnel, general healthcare workers and their patients, these masks are ideal for protecting employees and complying with the mask mandate.”

The NP Medical nPro™ single-use, disposable, FDA-cleared three-ply surgical masks provide excellent protection and are designed to meet ASTM F2100-19 Level 1 requirements, providing over 99% Sub-micron Particulate (PFE) and Bacterial Filtration Efficiency (BFE). The masks feature elastic ear loops, an adjustable nose wire and vertically adjustable pleats to ensure a snug and comfortable fit.

“Jabil, like so many manufacturers in America, has stepped up to the challenges of the pandemic, including shifting U.S. facilities to mask and PPE production, for which there is much demand,” said National Association of Manufacturers President and CEO Jay Timmons.

Jabil is offering these masks as a directly sourced, reliable supply of PPE for large orders.

Jabil is a manufacturing solutions provider with over 260,000 employees across 100 locations in 30 countries. The world's leading brands rely on Jabil's unmatched breadth and depth of end-market experience, technical and design capabilities, manufacturing know-how, supply chain insights and global product management expertise.

 

American Surgical Mask Producing Up to 150,000 Surgical Masks per Day

Company CEO Matt Brandman recently provided insights to the media about the masks made locally in the Tampa Bay area.

“American Surgical Mask is a U.S. based 3-ply mask manufacturer based in Tampa, FL. The company currently operates a 10,000 square foot facility producing over 150,000 ASTM Level 1 masks per day.

Their 3-Ply disposable surgical masks are manufactured in Tampa, Florida with US sourced materials. Their executive and management team is highly diverse and minority.  Their ownership is highly diversified and consists of professionals with experience in medical, energy, construction and the food/beverage industries.

Their state-of-the-art 10,000 sf manufacturing facility has been upgraded to house up to eight automated machines that are each capable of producing over 80 masks a minute. Their facility follows the strictest guidelines of the CDC to protect their employees and their families in this pandemic environment.

 

 

Lanaco is and is Not Sheepish About Their Filters

A New Zealand Company touts the benefits of  sheep’s wool with strong electrostatic charges.  Lanaco makes several types of masks with varying efficiencies.  

The WAIRE™ P2 respirator mask must be fitted and adjusted correctly to your face to provide the intended protection. 

 

·         WAIRE™ P2 can also be used in certain applications against some bio-aerosols, such as COVID and FLU virus. Helps protect against airborne biological particles - Fluid resistant (120 mm Hg synthetic blood resistance)

·         Lightweight construction for added comfort that may increase wearer time. Has a 4-point head harness for a secure and comfortable fit

·         Nose wire allows the wearer to shape to the nose, reducing eyewear fogging and forming a better seal.

·         Made from Lanaco HELIX™ Advanced Filter Material for effective filtration with low breathing resistance (104Pa @ 95l/m) 

·         Does not contain components made from natural rubber latex

·         Protects against hazards, such as dust, mists, smoke and fumes 

·         Complies with AS/NZS 1716:2012 standard and approved at a P2 level

·         Exceeds 95% filtration efficiency in laboratory testing when tested at 95 L/min against a salt aerosol (VicLab Australia, INSPEC United Kingdom) 

·         Advanced wool hybrid electrostatic filter media – low breathing resistance, moisture-wicking and naturally bacteriostatic

 
Jacobs had a NASA contract under which it searched around the world for organizations that might have the technical expertise to extend the life of NASA’s current respirator.

In May 2018, a call went out to Lanaco, a New Zealand company that develops and produces wool filter material, with a focus at that point on personal protective equipment in the workspace and air pollution filtration.

The Jacobs team was especially interested in particle filtration, which intrigued Lanaco founder Nick Davenport because, though his company hadn’t been working on emergency breathing devices, he knew wool was well suited to such an application.

Davenport, a materials applications engineer, and his colleagues had noticed the interesting properties of wool while working with polymers about a decade earlier.

“The deeper we dug into the science of wool and how it could perform in an industrial application, using new science, the more we saw there was an opportunity,” he says. Wool is naturally resistant to fire and bacteria, and it manages water well.

Davenport and his colleagues wondered why this extraordinary material wasn’t being used for filtration around the world. They realized air filter technology was focused on synthetic materials, overlooking this natural alternative.

He founded Lanaco and developed his proprietary wool filter technology. The company has built up a specialized commercial flock of sheep by working with a top breeder to maximize the qualities that make good filters and to reduce the material’s variability.

“We analyzed the wool fiber from hundreds of different types of sheep and then established a breeding program to specifically focus on the attributes that we needed to make the world’s best all-natural fiber air filter for respiratory applications,” Davenport says.

Wiles and her team at Jacobs were looking specifically for a prefilter that could fit over NASA’s existing fire cartridge to increase the life of the system for Orion. Lanaco then began to tailor its Helix filter for the application.

The particles that would fly around in the event of a spacecraft fire—including droplets of water used to extinguish a blaze—are potentially small and hot, and the existing technology is typically made of polymers with a relatively low melting point, Davenport says. A product like wool, which doesn’t promote a fire or degrade rapidly under hot particles, has clear advantages.

“As a prefilter, our technology enables the main filter to function in the presence of those hot particles and dangerous gases,” Davenport says.

Prior to the NASA contract, Lanaco had not been working directly in the area of critical breathing applications. Now the company has some expertise, with wool performing particularly well in fire resistance and moisture.

We have commenced developing some of the features in the NASA application of our filters for use in critical respiratory applications,” says Davenport.

Extraction Arm from Nederman is a Great CCC Example

Concentrated Contaminant Capture (CCC) is exemplified in the Nederman extraction arm.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, health risks associated with exposure to hazardous aerosols during routine dental procedures and the potential transmission of infectious diseases became even more of a concern. Considering the potential for patients infected with COVID-19 to transmit the virus while asymptomatic, it should be assumed that all patients can transmit disease. As the most important layer of the total protection strategy, the effectiveness of Nederman’s enhanced disease protection system was evaluated in collaboration with the leading dental university in Istanbul, Turkey - Marmara University Faculty of Dentistry, established in 1952.

Aerosol generating processes (AGPs) during dental procedures create high concentrations of aerosols containing particulates of various sizes. This particulate matter carry contaminants, viruses, saliva, blood etc. Due to the nature of how dental procedures are conducted, dentists who work closely with patients are frequently exposed to potentially dangerous aerosols and media frequently. If this media is not collected from where it is generated, it will spread and travel with ambient air onto equipment and surfaces, potentially infecting dental healthcare staff, patients and more. There was no available study on a real dental setting evaluating effectiveness of the Nederman Aerosol Control System, especially during the pandemic period.

With the collaboration of Marmara University Faculty of Dentistry, a study was done with four different operation types and six cases using Nederman FX2 Extraction Arm, Combi-Hood and N-Series Fan in order to evaluate the system effectiveness by comparing aerosol concentrations of cases with and without aerosol control system use. The main objective of the tests are to see if the system is able to decrease aerosol concentration close to ideal levels avoiding aerosols to spread throughout the room and into the patient’s and staff’s breathing zone.

 

It was observed that without any aerosol control system, aerosol concentrations increased dramatically during AGP’s. Also, after the Nederman aerosol control system was turned on, the aerosol concentration decreased close to the ideal reference levels. If the complete test data is examined together, it can be concluded that the red shaded area of high aerosol concentrations can be removed successfully by aerosol suction before into a controlled environment.

In addition, the observed amounts of aerosols accumulating onto the dentists’ glasses, masks and protective equipment decreased substantially and created a comfortable working environment.

The test results showed a reduction in aerosol exposure of greater than 90% to the dentist.

 

Freudenberg has the Products to Create Safe Bubbles

With its air filters, masks, and service Freudenberg can provide substantial assistance in creating safe bubbles.

“For more than 60 years, we have been using our filters at our customers' sites and providing maintenance services to ensure consistent quality and safety – the filters are tailored to each individual customer and application," explains Dr. Thomas Caesar, Director Global Filter Engineering of the Industrial Filtration Division.

In addition to pure filtration products, Freudenberg also offers tailor-made service solutions. Ventilation systems that are well maintained, hygienically perfect and equipped with highly effective air filters make a valuable contribution to this. In the current coronavirus situation, Freudenberg Filtration Technologies has added two new hygiene modules to its Viledon filterCair air quality management system. Both include a ventilation system check to protect employees from infections and food from contamination, and thus protect companies from the economic consequences of temporary closure.

"In the long run, cost-savings can be made if the filters are not only adapted to the application but also to local fine dust pollution," explains Caesar. There is increasing evidence that higher levels of air pollution lead to more severe disease.

Filter technology will therefore continue to become increasingly relevant in the future. In the context of infection control, it offers – in addition to its previous use in clinics and industry – a solution for reducing the risk of infections associated with the accumulation of people in indoor public spaces. 

We reported on the FDA clearance of  Freudenberg surgical masks yesterday. It is also providing masks for the public using a novel spunbond media produced by NWI.

Freudenberg provides the textile manufacturing expertise and work force needed to install, operate and maintain the four new production lines. "As the leader in the development of the next generation of nonwovens, we knew we could step in and help fill this critical need. By partnering with Freudenberg, we will ensure the reliable completion of millions of protective face coverings to battle the coronavirus using NWI’s novel filter media”, says Behnam Pourdeyhimi, executive director of the Nonwovens Institute. Once fully operational the site will be able to produce more than one million masks a month.

In addition to the face mask lines provided by NC State, Freudenberg has installed six additional production lines to manufacture surgical and N95 masks.

 

 

Pfizer and Moderna Vaccines Less Effective Against South African Variant

The two coronavirus vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna appear to be highly effective against the more transmissible variant of the virus first detected in Britain, according to newly published studies in the New England Journal of Medicine, in a potential boost to vaccination efforts around the globe.

The vaccines, however, showed a decreased ability to neutralize the strain now dominant in South Africa, worrying some researchers and prompting Pfizer and BioNTech to announce they were taking necessary steps to develop a booster shot or updated vaccine. A day after Pfizer’s announcement, a top White House coronavirus adviser said each vaccine developer is planning to update shots to address variants.

“Each of the vaccine companies — and I’ve talked to all of them, both the ones approved and the candidates — have plans to continue to update their vaccines, and if need be, create boosters down the road if there continue to be additional mutants, as there likely will be,” Andy Slavitt said during a Washington Post live interview on Thursday.

Here are some significant developments:

• Life expectancy in the United States fell by a full year during the first half of 2020, a staggering decline that reflects the toll of the pandemic as well as a rise in deaths from drug overdoses, heart attacks and diseases that accompanied the outbreak, according to government data released Thursday.
• Lack of access to vaccines from their own country means U.S. diplomats abroad are accepting host government offers of their supply of U.S.-made vaccines to get inoculated.
• The Department of Homeland Security has seized more than 11 million counterfeit N95 masks meant for front-line workers in recent weeks, including more than 1 million on Wednesday, officials said.
• About 33 percent of service members have declined voluntary coronavirus vaccinations, defense officials said Wednesday, acknowledging that more inoculations would better prepare the military for worldwide missions.
• Nearly 28 million cases have been reported in the United States, with 489,000 deaths, but the numbers of new cases continue to fall, reaching rates now comparable to those in late October.

Education Week Weighs in on School Ventilation

The importance of good ventilation in schools is the theme of Sarah Sparks in a recent Education Week article which is excerpted below. Similar articles on the benefits of efficient tight fitting masks are one of the routes to insure that the right choices are made by teachers and parents relative to mask selection.

Guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released last week provided significantly more detail on how schools should approach issues like community spread and mask use when deciding how to reopen schools safely during the pandemic. But critics say the new recommendations downplay the importance of improving indoor air quality and ventilation to prevent the spread of the airborne virus.

The CDC guidance encourages schools to improve ventilation as part of their overall cleaning strategy, and particularly points to opening doors and windows to “increase circulation of outdoor air to increase the delivery of clean air and dilute potential contaminants.

In separate tips on ventilation, the agency describes this as a cost-free way to reduce the spread of the virus, along with inspecting and maintaining local exhaust ventilation; repositioning outdoor air dampers; and disabling demand-controlled ventilation, a common energy-saving system that reduces the rate at which outdoor air is pulled into a building.

“The guidance addresses near-field (close contact) inhalation dose with masks and distancing. That’s good,” said Richard Corsi, the dean of engineering and computer science at Portland State University, an expert on indoor air quality, via a tweet. “Ventilation is given lip service with little guidance. Incredibly disappointing. The lack of understanding of ventilation or its importance (or perhaps just disregard) is wholly obvious.”

And 13 scientists this week, in a letter to President Joe Biden’s administration, are calling for a greater focus on limiting airborne transmission in schools, meatpacking plants, prisons, and other indoor settings.

Early in the pandemic, public health officials believed the coronavirus was spread mainly through droplets—virus-laden liquids larger than 5 microns across. The current rules on social distancing come in part from studies that find a cough or sneeze can project these droplets several feet away, where they may hang in the air for several minutes before landing on surfaces.

But more recent studies have found that COVID-19 spreads through much smaller aerosolized particles, which both travel farther and hang in the air indefinitely unless blown away. That makes keeping air circulating—safely—much more important.

Studies find that opening windows and doors can help replace the concentration of air inside more quickly—but how quickly depends on whether there are multiple openings available to provide better air flow.

One new study of the coronavirus in buildings found that because of the viruses’ transmissibility and tendency to hang in the air over time, administrators may not be able to rely on the normal rate of air flow from their ventilation systems to clear virus particles from the air. And a separate new study of Dutch schools found aerosols built up steadily in school gyms even when they had ventilation, but the combination of increased ventilation and the use of mobile air filters cut the concentration of aerosols in the rooms by 80 to 90 percent.

However, the CDC’s other recommendations to bolster ventilation beyond opening doors and windows have costs that can add up quickly for schools: The agency estimated fans at $100 each; $500 each for portable HEPA filters; and $1,500 to provide ultraviolet germicidal irradiation to counter the coronavirus in ducts above rooms with limited ventilation.

A government study released this summer found more than 2 out of 5 U.S. districts need to update or replace the heating, air conditioning, and ventilation systems in at least half of their schools. The report found some 36,000 schools had outdated HVAC systems or those in need of repair or replacement—making it by far the most common infrastructure problem in schools. Federal researchers estimated high-poverty school districts spent on average $300 less per student on capital projects like HVAC upkeep and replacement than did low-poverty districts, $719 per student versus $1,016 per student.

But Kanecia Zimmerman, an associate professor of pediatrics at Duke University Medical Center and co-head of a National Institutes of Health project studying safe school reopening, argues basic maintenance can go a long way.

“What is most helpful is that ventilation systems work as they were designed,’ said Zimmerman in a briefing. “Overhauling ventilation systems, HEPA filters, those types of things have not been demonstrated to result in reduced transmission. Certainly, we think they could potentially work based on the fact that they are filtering air and things of that nature, but there is no evidence that reduced transmission has occurred because we had these things in place. So, the most important thing would be to have ventilation systems that actually work.”

Yet what “works” when it comes to getting rid of aerosolized virus can seem to run counter to what schools might otherwise want in their building’s HVAC system. Take, for example, one new study of COVID-19 transmission rates in New York City schools as they started to reopen. Researchers tracked COVID-19 transmission rates in more than 100 classrooms across the city as the seasons changed. Transmission rates rose as schools switched over from air conditioning—which often incorporates more natural ventilation— to heating. Newer and better resourced schools were also more likely to have higher transmission rates.

Why? Those schools were more likely to be weather-proofed and energy efficient. That’s great for maintaining a stable temperature and cost-savings, but it means indoor air doesn’t move as much and doesn’t get exchanged with fresh air as often—leaving virus particles to build up.

“Surprisingly,” the researchers noted, “schools located in older buildings and lower-income neighborhoods had lower transmission probabilities, likely due to the greater outdoor airflow associated with an older, nonrenovated buildings that allow air to leak in (in other words, drafty buildings).

Likewise, the study also found all else being equal, that little more than a third of schools that had mechanical ventilation, such as fans or central heating and air conditioning systems, had lower rates of transmission overall. The study noted that all but 18 percent of the schools studied had either no windows or windows that were broken and would not open, making it difficult or impossible to get natural ventilation.

Recent studies that have found proper ventilation to help prevent school outbreaks when community coronavirus levels are high, but Zimmerman cautioned that it cannot work without being part of a comprehensive mitigation plan.

“We know that even in settings of poor ventilation, masking and distancing can be very helpful,” Zimmerman said. “Ventilation is potentially one part” of school mitigation strategies.

Improving indoor air quality may do more than just help schools tamp down on COVID-19 outbreaks, though. One study last year found improving air quality also boosted reading and math achievement, particularly for disadvantaged students living in areas with outdoor pollution.

https://www.edweek.org/leadership/what-the-cdc-guidelines-dont-say-about-classroom-ventilation-and-covid-19-spread/2021/02