Title
Establishment and application of test methodology demonstrating the functionality of air purification systems in reducing virus-loaded aerosol in indoor air
Author
van der Vossen, J.M.B.M.
Kreikamp, A.P.
Hatt, V.
Ouwens, A.M.T.
Brasem, D.J.
Heerikhuisen, M.
Montijn, R.C.
Publication year
2023
Abstract
Background: The global COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a greater interest in improving the ventilation of indoor environments in order to remove aerosolized virus and thus reduce transmission. Air purification systems have been proposed as a solution to improve aerosol removal. Aim: The aim was to determine the efficacy of air purification systems in reducing the viral load in the environmental air of a room. Methods: A containment room equipped with HEPA filter on air intake and exhaust was constructed. It was connected via an inlet with the BSL-2 facility. From the BSL-2, Feline Coronavirus (FCoV)-loaded aerosols were released into the containment room. After nebulization, air sampling was performed to determine the viral load in air prior to assessing the clean air delivery rate of the air purification systems. The infectivity of the captured viruses was also examined. Findings: The air purification systems realized a 97-99% reduction in viral load in air in 1 h. Captured infectious FCoV was reduced by 99.9%-99.99% by use of an ESP technology. Conclusions: The air purification systems, using ESP technology or HEPA filter, reduce the viral load in air. The ESP purifiers inactivate captured FCoV viruses. Therefore, air purification systems can be used as an adjunctive infection control measure. (C) 2023 The Healthcare Infection Society
Subject
Aerosol
Air purification
Bacteriophage
Clean air delivery rate
COVID-19
Virus
To reference this document use:
http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:e4352740-6023-4512-ab5c-8f2f9f72f484
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhin.2023.03.004
TNO identifier
985436
ISSN
0195-6701
Source
Journal of Hospital Infection, 135 (135), 74-80
Document type
article