Air Purifiers Can Reduce Up to 90% of Infection Risk in Classrooms

The most common route of transmission for SARS-CoV-2 is via air. When an infected person coughs or sneezes, infectious particles are released into the air and these large droplets sink to the ground within a radius of two meters. When a person breathes or speaks, smaller droplets or aerosols are also released, and these infectious SARS-CoV-2 pathogens are still present three hours after emission and travel several meters away from an infected person.

The problem lies in the fact that fluids in such aerosol particles evaporate quickly, which makes them smaller and easier to disperse in a room within a few minutes. 

(Photo: pixabay)

Benefits of Air Purifiers

Joachim Curtius, professor for Experimental Atmospheric Research at Goethe University, and his team employed the use of four air purifiers over a period of one week and observed the effects in a classroom of 27 students and their teachers.

The air purifiers had a simple pre-filter for coarse dust particles and fluff as well as class H13 filter (HEPA) and active carbon filters. The filters were able to process between 760 and 1,460 m3 of air per hour and observed that this can lower aerosol concentration in a classroom by 90 percent within 30 minutes, without causing any noise disturbance provided that the air purifier was not running at its highest levels.

Professor Curtius explained that an air purifier helps considerably lower the number of aerosols that the risk of being infected by a highly contagious person, a superspreader, is greatly reduced. This the reason why with more schools opening up, the team is recommending that schools should start using HEPA air purifiers this winter with a sufficiently high airflow rate.

The researchers also measured that the air purifier can also reduce allergens and fine dust particles (PM10), aside from reducing infection risk. However, it is important to note that an air filter cannot replace the opening of windows at regular intervals. As keeping a regular airflow within the room can decrease CO2 concentration, researchers noticed that classrooms usually have CO2 levels that exceeded recommended limits. It is also recommended to install CO2 sensors inside the classrooms so that students and teachers can monitor this themselves.

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Improving Air Quality

As the weather turns cooler, people are spending more time indoors, and these indoor gatherings may spark new outbreaks. Experts keep stressing that a well-ventilated room can help improve air quality.

But because most buildings are not well-engineered to operate appropriately during a pandemic, experts are expressing growing concern over a potential fall-winter Covid-19 surge. 

Even with proper ventilation and air purifier, if the wearing masks, social distancing, and reducing occupancy in indoor spaces are not practiced, this will be useless. 

There are no perfectly safe indoor environments during the pandemic, the best possible thing to do is to reduce the risk of Covid-19 and make indoor air quality better and safer with proper ventilation.

It is critical to know that addressing ventilation is not a one-time thing, this should be an investment for future pandemic and our overall health.

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