When used correctly, air and HVAC filters can help reduce airborne contaminants, including viruses, in a small building or space. Cleaning or filtering the air alone is not enough to protect people from COVID-19, but research studies have shown that HEPA filters can eliminate viruses in the air in certain cases. Contagious viruses that cause respiratory diseases can be transmitted directly through the air or enclosed in respiratory droplets that are released when an infectious person coughs or sneezes. When viruses are inside droplets, airborne droplet size is larger and easier to remove with HEPA filters.
So yes, HEPA filters can trap particles that contain coronavirus. People expel droplets of respiratory fluid, saliva, and possibly virus into the air when breathing, coughing, and talking. Even if the water in the droplet evaporates, the droplets contain salts, proteins, and other material in addition to any viruses, which means that the remaining particles are usually a few microns in size, making them quite easy to catch with a HEPA filter. The filters are designed to improve indoor air quality by physically removing small particles of matter that may be floating, such as dust, pollen and pet dander. These are all things that occur naturally, but they can aggravate people's allergies if they breathe them in.
The most common type of household filters right now are HEPA filters. Disinfectants are designed to kill bacteria, viruses, mold, or fungal spores that may also be floating. These things also occur naturally, but they can make you sick if you are exposed to sufficiently high concentrations of them. The most common type of disinfectant right now is ultraviolet light devices. Ozone generators alter the standard oxygen molecule to have three atoms instead of just two.
The three-atom molecule is called ozone, not oxygen, and it interacts differently with its environment than the normal air we breathe. Air purifiers that use HEPA filters, UV light, or ionizers are OK. However, inhaling ozone can cause coughing, throat irritation, shortness of breath, and other problems, even in healthy people. Ozone can even cause damage to the lungs, so local weather authorities sometimes issue ozone alerts. Keep in mind that unless you have someone with an active COVID-19 infection in your household, you won't have any source of coronavirus to reduce or filter with any of these methods.
Therefore, you will change the air quality inside your home in other ways. What do you want people to know about air purifiers? Air purifiers are not a magic formula. Therefore, it's important to think of them more as part of your plan than as part of your entire plan. Let's say I visit him at his house and I still don't know if I have COVID-19. If I sneeze at you just two feet away and neither of you is wearing a mask, then your risk of exposure will definitely increase, even if you have an air purifier nearby. But if you live alone and you're the only one there, the chances of contracting coronavirus from the air in your own home are practically nil. COVID-19 does not expel itself.
It has to stick to something else to travel, such as mucus, a respiratory droplet, or a piece of dust in the environment. A HEPA filter doesn't kill the COVID-19 virus but items that can carry the virus stick to the filter so they can't circulate in your living area. Smart Air provides sensible, empirically backed purifiers and masks that remove the same particles as large companies for a fraction of the cost. David Fisman MD., an epidemiologist at the University of Toronto who was not involved in the research said in Nature article: This study suggests that HEPA air purifiers, which remain underused in Canadian hospitals are an inexpensive and easy way to reduce the risk of airborne pathogens. So how do different types of air purifiers work? Are any of them effective against COVID-19? And should you buy one (or more) for your home? Before purchasing a HEPA filter consider the type of particles you want to remove from the room; size of room; and clean air supply rate (CADR). These findings suggest that portable HEPA air purifiers may reduce exposure to SARS-CoV-2 aerosols indoors; and greater reductions in exposure occur when used in combination with universal masking. The results of this study support the use of portable HEPA air purifiers to reduce exposure to airborne particulate matter.
The air filters were placed side by side in the center of the room on the floor; front and back on floor; left and right sides on floor; or left and right sides raised 30 inches (0.8 m). HEPA filters must remove 99.97% of particles “greater than or equal to 0.3 microns”.But if someone in your household has COVID-19 or needs to quarantine until you can be sure they don't it might make sense to have an air purifier in your room with door closed if only to help protect caregivers from possible exposure. Smart Air is a social enterprise that creates simple and sensible air purifiers and provides free education to protect people's health from effects of air pollution. Results suggest that air filters could be used to reduce risk of patients and medical staff contracting SARS-CoV-2 in hospitals study authors say. In general room team found SARS-CoV-2 particles in air when filter was turned off but not when it was turned on. These findings suggest that using HEPA air filtration, combined with universal masking could reduce risk of contracting SARS-CoV-2 indoors for both patients and medical staff alike. Smart Air provides sensible empirically backed purifiers and masks that remove same particles as large companies for fraction of cost; making it easier for everyone to access clean air indoors.
