AWA Paper Uses a Nanofiber Web for High Efficiency

University’s ESH Team Deploys Portable Detector on Campus to Protect Students, Faculty and Staff from Virus Exposure

Bi Polar Ionization has Boosters and Detractors

Illinois School will Install Biopolar Ionization Units

Robert Redfield Joining Big Ass Fans

Aries Offers ASTM Level 2 Face Mask

Schenectady Restaurant Utilizes HEPA Filter Technology

Ionizers on the Table at Chicago Restaurant

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AWA Paper Uses a Nanofiber Web for High Efficiency

NANOWOVEN is a  unique high-function filter media (filter element) where the base material is combined with a nano fiber web.

An air filter made from this product captures extremely fine carbon dust, which is approximately 50 percent higher efficiency than that of conventional filter media (filter element) for engines, and it has also achieved twice the service life.

This product will be used in a wide variety of applications to correspond to the need to reduce the environmental load and for high functionality.

For air filters: NANOWOVEN is superior in terms of the amount and efficiency of capturing particulates compared to existing filter media (filter element) and demonstrates the following features:

·         Possible to be made thin (Since the airflow resistance can be maintained, the engine output is expected to be increased.

·         Reduction in cost is expected

A reduction in environmental load is expected due to the contribution to the improvement in fuel efficiency and the enhancement of element life.

For fuel filters: NANOWOVEN can also be used in fuel filter applications, because production by usage of resin (as coating material) with high chemical and heat resistance is possible.
This product achieved higher efficiency than conventional filter media (filter element), and AWA  are in the process of finding a way to eliminate the use of inorganic fibers.

 

University’s ESH Team Deploys Portable Detector on Campus to Protect Students, Faculty and Staff from Virus Exposure

Smiths Detection, a global leader in threat detection and security screening technologies, says that its BioFlash Biological Identifier has been successfully used by the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) to identify airborne SARS-CoV-2 inside their campus in real-time at the point of testing.

As part of their mitigation strategy for COVID-19, UMBC’s Environmental Safety and Health (ESH) team have been using BioFlash across the campus. In one instance, the airborne detector was deployed to help the campus community safely re-enter a research facility after a person working there tested positive. After multiple tests performed on the BioFlash ruled-out the presence of airborne SARS-CoV-2, the ESH team deemed the facility contamination-free, allowing staff and students to safely return and research to continue without significant pause.

In a separate instance, in a collaborative effort with the UMBC Sports Medicine Department, a test conducted in a team locker room resulted in a positive environmental detection on the BioFlash. This detection ultimately led UMBC to test all people present for COVID-19, identifying three infected individuals. This helped prevent further spread of the virus.

“We are delighted to see what we believe is a world-first for our technology. BioFlash, with its real-time results capability, has been used by UMBC in a real-world setting to successfully confirm the presence or absence of COVID-19 in the air and inform health and safety protocols,” said Smiths Detection President Roland Carter. “We have been working incredibly hard to provide a tool that will support the ongoing fight against COVID-19, and these applications demonstrate the role BioFlash can play in virus mitigation strategies.”

“The BioFlash system has helped us to prevent the spread of the virus in our on-campus community. We are also pleased that this tool to protect the health and safety of people on our campus is easy to use and environmentally friendly,” said Lynne Schaefer, UMBC Vice President for Administration and Finance. “We will be using this solution as part of a larger mitigation strategy, alongside other important tools like sanitation, masks, regular testing, physical distancing, and symptom monitoring.”

BioFlash works by collecting and analyzing air samples using sensitive, selective and rapid detection technology to identify the presence of dangerous pathogens onsite without the need to involve a laboratory. Following successful internal testing, Smiths Detection has been engaged in various external studies to further verify the SARS-CoV-2 detection capability, including working with the USAMRIID, which verified that BioFlash could identify SARS-CoV-2 in a laboratory setting.

The BioFlash Biological Identifier is available now.

The BioFlash Biological Identifier is a bio-aerosol collection and identification system that provides rapid, sensitive and specific identification of various pathogens including viruses, toxins and bacteria. The BioFlash has been commercially available for over 10 years and is currently used by US government and commercial clients for a number of applications.

 

Bi Polar Ionization has Boosters and Detractors

Some air purification systems rely on bipolar ionization, in which high-voltage electrodes create a blizzard of positive and negative ions from molecules in air, such as oxygen and water. Some manufacturers claim that these ions attach to viral particles in the air and weigh them down until they fall to a surface; others claim that the ions react with the virus’s surface proteins, preventing it from infecting cells.

Some experts  point out that merely dragging SARS-CoV-2 out of the air is perhaps only a temporary solution. “The more we learn about COVID-19, the more we’re looking into the impact of resuspension of settled virus particles back into the air,”. Meanwhile, the CDC says that although bipolar ionization technology has been around for decades, it “has a less-documented track record in regards to cleaning/disinfecting large and fast volumes of moving air within HVAC systems.”

Still, the past year has produced an avalanche of white papers in support of bipolar ionization against SARS-CoV-2, often produced for manufacturers by contract research organizations or academic laboratories. The electronics company Sharp, for example, had its Plasmacluster air purification technology tested by researchers at Nagasaki University and Shimane University in Japan. The researchers claim that protons and superoxide anions (O₂^–) generated by the device reduced the concentration of aerosolized SARS-CoV-2 passing through a test chamber by 91% after 30 s of exposure.

For now, ASHRAE says that “convincing scientifically-rigorous, peer-reviewed studies do not currently exist on this emerging technology” and cautions that some systems may generate ozone, an irritant that can aggravate respiratory ailments and reduce pulmonary function. “Don’t let anyone tell you that a small amount of ozone is a good amount of ozone,” says Richard Shaughnessy, director of the Indoor Air Program at the University of Tulsa.. “Any increase, even up to 10 ppb, has been shown to have an impact on morbidity.” 

 

Illinois School will Install Biopolar Ionization Units

The McLean County (Ill.) School District No. 5 will spend $5.15 million to upgrade the heating and cooling system at Chiddix Junior High in Normal.

The Bloomington Pantagraph reports that the school facility has been plagued with severe humidity problems, causing facilities staff at times to run more than 40 dehumidifiers at once.

"We continue to have mold issues; we continue to have just a variety of inefficiencies at that school that are to the point where we can’t manage those,” says Mike Trask, a member of the board and the facilities committee. “We have to make this fix and we have to make it right now.”

The improvements at Chiddix include the installation of a geothermal heating and cooling system.

Board President Amy Roser says the board did not take the decision lightly to allocate funds for the upgrades, “particularly given the economic times that many in our county are currently facing. But we looked also at the health life and safety and the conditions of our kids in a particular school that needed a better environment to learn, and we did prioritize that.”

The district also plans to use federal Covid relief funding for indoor air quality improvement. That will include the installation of bipolar ionization technology, which has been shown to reduce the community spread of infectious disease.

 

 

Robert Redfield Joining Big Ass Fans

Dr. Robert Redfield, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has joined Big Ass Fans, lending his scientific credibility to a company division that says its ion-generating technology kills the coronavirus. The company charges $9,450 for a fan with technology that academic air quality experts question.

As strategic health and safety adviser, he follows Dr. Deborah Birx, former White House coronavirus response coordinator, into the booming air purifying industry. Last month, she signed on with ActivePure, a company that also makes a pitch about virus-destroying technology, but markets some devices that run afoul of California indoor air quality rules, according to a KHN investigation.

The two bring name recognition to companies selling products that are advertised to make it safer for people to gather maskless inside schools, offices, gyms and stores. The companies market 99.9% coronavirus kill rates.

Academic indoor air quality experts who criticize certain claims about COVID-killing technology say the industry-funded studies often focus on results of tests run in a space ranging in size from a shoebox to a cabinet that do not reflect the conditions in a large room. Studies backed by the industry rarely make it clear whether the touted "virus-killing" ions or molecules are doing the work, experts say, or if improvements come from a fan or filter on a device.

"There's no other way to say it — it's completely unproven whether these devices would work in a real-world setting," Timothy Bertram said of devices that claim to attack molecules in midair. He is a chemistry professor who studies aerosol particles at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Redfield, who led the CDC during the Trump administration's pandemic response, did not respond to requests for comment before publication. "Proper ventilation has a major role to play in mitigating transmission of COVID-19 and other respiratory pathogens," Redfield said in a Big Ass Fans news release. "Big Ass Fans is a leader in designing airflow systems and making places where we live, work, and play, safer."

Academic air quality experts, though, say high-profile physician sign-ons amount to celebrity endorsements.

"I'd much rather see good data transparently released than listen to Deborah Birx talk about how good this technology is when I know she isn't an expert on air disinfection," said William Bahnfleth, an architectural engineering professor at Penn State who studies indoor air quality and leads the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers Epidemic Task Force.

Bertram said he studied the performance of various ion- and hydroxyl-releasing devices in classrooms and found that some emitted ozone, a gas associated with the onset or worsening of asthma. Others created other new small particles. When it came to improving ventilation, none performed as well as a HEPA filter, he said, which together with a MERV-13 filter in a heating system and increased outside ventilation is the standard recommendation. Bertram did not say which specific devices he reviewed but said that will be detailed in a forthcoming study.

Big Ass Fans is entering the coronavirus air purifying market with brand recognition based on its uncontroversial air-moving mega-fans. Its Clean Air System fans are already used in schools and by companies such as Toyota, Tiffany & Co. and Orangetheory Fitness.

Some Clean Air System fans use UVC light, widely considered an effective air cleaning technology. Other fans use bipolar ionization, a technique that the Environmental Protection Agency warns is "an emerging technology, and little research is available that evaluates it outside of lab conditions," adding that evidence of its effectiveness is less documented than the evidence for far more established choices like air filtration.

Big Ass Fans spokesperson Alex Risen stressed in an interview that its technology is just one layer of protection against the coronavirus. The company, headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky, says its technology "pairs scientifically proven air purifying technologies with powerful airflow solutions. This results in a system that kills 99.99% of pathogens to keep your people protected and your business booming."

The company charges about $500 to $1,500 more for fans with Clean Air System technology.

In the pandemic, federal funding to buy such devices for schools has exploded, with roughly $193 billion available so far. Congressional Democrats are pushing for $100 billion more. With community pressure to reopen classrooms, school officials have begun to invest heavily in air cleaning technology, though some experts worry risks are not being considered.

The EPA has warned about bipolar ionization's ability to generate ozone and other potentially harmful byproducts indoors. A study by top indoor air quality experts in the Building and Environment journal found that another company's bipolar ionization technology created other byproducts, including toluene, which can have developmental effects after long-term inhalation exposure.

Risen, the Big Ass Fans spokesperson, stressed that its ionization technology does not emit ozone or other byproducts and is not "putting bad things into your lungs." He said the products do not emit hydrogen peroxide. ActivePure, the air cleaning company Birx has signed on with, makes air cleaners that emit gaseous hydrogen peroxide, which it claims can seek out and destroy viruses, mold and bacteria, according to the KHN investigation.

"We know that we're not producing any negative products," Risen said. "We know that at the concentrations that you're at, you're not getting negative effects."

Joe Urso, ActivePure Technologies CEO, said the "FDA has cleared a number of devices that emit hydrogen peroxide into the ambient air at a safe level for people to breathe, including our ActivePure Medical Guardian."

Bahnfleth said Big Ass Fans had made more of a good faith effort with its studies than others in the market. But he added that, without measuring potential gaseous byproducts, the research was not complete.

"They still do nothing to address potential adverse impacts of chemical byproduct exposure," said Brent Stephens, an indoor air quality expert who reviewed Big Ass Fans Clean Air System's reports and leads the civil, architectural and environmental engineering department at the Illinois Institute of Technology.

Stephens added that the controlled testing spaces — without people or furniture or other products that would be in a classroom or office — did not reflect real-world circumstances. And he worried about the "really high" ion counts, saying he would not recommend them for occupied spaces.

Bahnfleth echoed Stephens' concerns, pointing to a study that showed adverse health effects such as increased oxidative stress levels — which are linked to cancer and other neurological diseases — for those exposed to a high number of negative ions. Experts said more research is needed, as bipolar ionization, like that used by Big Ass Fans, produces both positive and negative ions.

Risen defended the safety of ions in an interview, noting they occur naturally.

It's hard to tell if the fan moving the air or the bipolar ionization is having an impact on the virus in the studies provided by Big Ass Fans, said Delphine Farmer, a Colorado State University associate professor who specializes in atmospheric and indoor chemistry. Also, she said, without real-world testing, it's unclear what sort of reaction this product could have when exposed to classroom fumes from paint, glue or markers.

"Anything that actually destroys a virus is potentially doing other chemistry as well," she said.

Another Clean Air System study claimed a 99.999% reduction of the virus that causes COVID from the air.

"When they give you 99.999%, that's a red flag to any scientist. We don't know anything to that degree," Bertram said. "That's just nuts."

https://www.modernhealthcare.com/people/redfield-joins-big-ass-fans-which-promotes-controversial-covid-killing-technology

 

 

Aries Offers ASTM Level 2 Face Mask

Aries, maker of barrier face coverings, has released the Aries Work Week Barrier Face Covering, which meets the newly released ASTM standard F3502-21 at Level 2 (high performance) for both filtration and breathability. The Aries Work Week Barrier Face Covering provides business operators with a third-party tested and verified barrier face covering to protect their workforce for an entire 40-hour work week.

"Companies want to return to work. Employees want to be able to breathe freely and be comfortable through an eight-hour workday,” says Chris Evans, CEO of Aries USA. The Aries Work Week Barrier Face Covering is one of the first to comply with the ASTM 3502 standard, delivering both filtration and breathability at Level 2, which are high performance standards. “Our masks carry the ‘meets ASTM 3502’ label on each product, guaranteeing that users are getting the performance they need and expect."

The recently announced ASTM F3502 standard sets guidelines with which buyers can evaluate face coverings. The new standards set base-level requirements for protection (particulate filtration efficiency), comfort and breathability (air flow resistance)  and the potential for reuse. The standard was created in a joint effort by ASTM International, the National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory (NPPTL), as well as industry and academic experts.
 

The Work Week Barrier Face Covering is manufactured with Captur, a novel, engineered fabric technology combining nonwoven polypropylene and IngeoTM biopolymer (a sustainable polymer with a lower carbon footprint) to provide a high level of protective filtration combined with maximum breathability. This innovative fabric was developed in response to the ongoing supply chain constraints for meltblown fabric, which is typically used in medical masks and contributed to the mask shortages.

Meltblown fabric is often an important component of medical masks because it has an electrostatic charge that captures sub-micron particles, increasing the filtration capabilities. But, because Captur’s unique manufacturing process adds an  electrostatic charge, a meltblown layer is not needed, resulting in a single-layer mask with both high filtration and breathability.

 

Schenectady Restaurant Utilizes HEPA Filter Technology

Local New York restaurant owner Jim Martel has placed a new focus on providing the safest dining and entertainment environment possible for his customers at his two locations, Martel’s at Capital Hills in Albany and Martel’s Grill at Town of Colonie Golf Course in Schenectady. His Town of Colonie location in particular was closed for the winter season. As temperatures warm and golfers and local residents begin to seek out dining and entertainment options, Martel wanted to take a proactive approach to providing a safe environment for patrons as he prepared to reopen for the spring.

After much consideration and research on the most effective products Martel decided to implement a Safe Air Plan provided by AirBox Air Purifiers. The Safe Air Plan was put together by AirBox’s team of experts who took into consideration the size of these two establishments and the expected occupancy range including employees and customers. AirBox Apex units, the company’s largest unit available, have been placed in the dining room and bar area at both locations in order to keep the breathing zone for customers and employees safe.

The AirBox Apex is an industrial-grade air purifier with the power to clean the constant expulsion of particles in larger spaces, especially high-traffic locations. All of the AirBox units utilize certified HEPA technology that has been lab tested and proven to remove 99.99% of airborne particles including infectious agents and pathogens, pollen, chemicals, mold, and dust from the breathing zone.  

“I chose AirBox to create the safest environment possible and to make the guests feel more comfortable,” Said Martel’s Owner, Jim Martel. “In addition to our surface cleaning, we felt it was important to address the air and take things to another level. AirBox is high quality stuff and takes out all pathogens and they have proven lab results at removing the virus that causes COVID-19, greater than 99.99%.” 

Both locations are now open for dine in and takeout. With the AirBox Apex units in place, whether patrons are coming off the golf course, planning a luncheon or dinner, or just want to have a drink with friends, they can visit Martel’s with peace of mind knowing that they are breathing clean air and doing it safely. 

 

Ionizers on the Table at Chicago Restaurant 

The host greeting diners at Formento’s, an Italian restaurant in the West Town neighborhood, now offers guests something new alongside the menu and wine list: a portable air purifier for their table.

The tabletop devices are among a series of air quality upgrades the restaurant introduced this month to assure customers they can breathe easy dining inside.

Diners can also expect to see bussers using ultraviolet wands to sterilize glassware and utensils, and little air-sucking robots in various corners of the restaurant that use heat to kill microorganisms. Unseen are new air filters installed in the HVAC system meant to trap virus particles.

The changes were costly for a restaurant that continues to lose money due to COVID-19. But Phillip Walters, whose B. Hospitality Co. owns Formento’s as well as its sister sandwich restaurant Nonna’s, and The Bristol in the Bucktown neighborhood, said it’s a necessary investment if the businesses are going to survive.

“We have to convince people that restaurants are safe,” Walters said.

Restaurants hoping to see the other side of the pandemic are pouring money into air quality upgrades and other safety features even as business remains devastated by COVID-19. As they burn through cash, they are counting on customers taking comfort in the changes and filling seats.