Abstract
Normal heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems typically use high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters, which can filter dust, various pollutants, and even bacteria and viruses from indoor air. However, since HEPA filters cannot not clean themselves and due to the nature of these microbes which can survive for long periods of time, changing these filters improperly could transmit pathogenic bacteria or viruses, and could even lead to new infections. This study indicated that these manufactured Solid Oxygen-purifying (SOP) filters have the potential to self-disinfect, filter, and inactivate aerosolized viruses. MS2 bacteriophage was used as a model virus in two different experiments. The first experiment involved aerosolization of the virus, while the second were a higher viral load using a soaking method. The SOP filters inactivated up to 99.8% of the virus particles in both experiments, provided that the density of the SOP filter was high. Thus, SOP filters could self-clean, which led to protection against airborne and aerosolized viruses by inactivating them on contact. Furthermore, SOP filters could be potentially use or addition in HVAC systems and face masks to prevent the transmission of airborne and aerosolized viruses.
Highlights
Pathogenic viruses can be harmful to public health
The Solid Oxygen-purifying filters used in this study were manufactured by Elstech., Inc. (Seoul, South Korea)
As a report showed that MS2 bacteriophage, could survive on the surfaces of high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters for up to 7 days [38]
Summary
Pathogenic viruses can be harmful to public health. Aerosol transmission, which is one way to spread pathogens, refers to transmission via particles with diameters smaller than 5 μm, while droplet transmission refers to transmission via particles with diameters of ~10 μm [1,2,3]. Viruses are mainly spread through coughing or sneezing, which results in the release of complex particles composed of mucus, salts, and water [4]. Due to their low settling velocity, and to factors such as absolute humidity and droplet physical and chemical properties, these viruses can remain in the air for a long period of time [5,6]. Surfaces with a high virus survival rate are called fomites and can remain pathogenically active for between a few hours and several days. Physical, chemical, and biological factors can influence the likelihood of virus survival [12,13]
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