HEPA filters of portable air cleaners as a tool for the surveillance of SARS-CoV-2

Pentagon Found Daily, Metagenomic Detection of Novel Bioaerosol Threats to Be Cost-Prohibitive: Can Virtualization and AI Make It Cost-Effective?

In 2022, the Pentagon Force Protection Agency found threat agnostic detection of novel bioaerosol threats to be "not feasible for daily operations" due to the cost of reagents used for metagenomics, cost of sequencing instruments, and cost of labor for subject matter experts to analyze bioinformatics. Similar operational difficulties might extend to many of the 280,000 buildings (totaling 2.3 billion square feet) at 5,000 secure US Department of Defense military sites, 250 Navy ships, as well as many civilian buildings. These economic barriers can still be addressed in a threat agnostic manner by dynamically pooling samples from dry filter units, called spike-triggered virtualization, whereby pooling and sequencing depth are automatically modulated based on novel biothreats in the sequencing output. By running at a high average pooling factor, the daily and annual cost per dry filter unit can be reduced by 10 to 100 times depending on the chosen trigger thresholds. Artificial intelligence can further enhance the sensitivity of spike-triggered virtualization. The risk of infection during the 12- to 24-hour window between a bioaerosol incident and its detection remains, but in some cases it can be reduced by 80% or more with high-speed indoor air cleaning exceeding 12 air changes per hour, which is similar to the rate of air cleaning in passenger airplanes in flight. That level of air changes per hour or higher is likely to be cost-prohibitive using central heating ventilation and air conditioning systems, but it can be achieved economically by using portable air filtration in rooms with typical ceiling heights (less than 10 feet) for a cost of approximately $0.50 to $1 per square foot for do-it-yourself units and $2 to $5 per square foot for high-efficiency particulate air filters.

A systematic review and meta-analysis of field studies of portable air cleaners: Performance, user behavior, and by-product emissions

Indoor air quality is important for the health of building occupants, and public interest in controlling indoor airborne pathogens increased dramatically with the COVID-19 pandemic. Pollutant concentrations can be controlled locally using portable air cleaners (sometimes called air purifiers), which allow occupants to apply air cleaning technology to meet their needs in the location and times that they find appropriate. This paper provides a systematic review of scientific literature that describes field studies of the effectiveness of portable air cleaners. Over 500 papers were considered, and 148 were reviewed in detail, to extract 35 specific research results (e.g., particulate removal performance) or characteristics (e.g., type of building). These were aggregated to provide an overview of results and approaches to this type of research, and to provide meta-analyses of the results. The review includes: descriptions of the geographical location of the research; rate of publications over time; types of buildings and occupants in the field study; types of air cleaner technology being tested; pollutants being measured; resulting pollutant removal effectiveness; patterns of usage and potential barriers to usage by occupants; and the potential for by-product emissions in some air cleaner technologies. An example result is that 83 of the 148 papers measured reductions in fine particulates (PM2.5) and found a mean reduction of 49 % with standard deviation of 20 %. The aggregated results were approximately normally distributed, ranging from finding no significant reduction up to a maximum above 90 % reduction. Sixteen of the 148 papers considered gaseous pollutants, such as volatile organic compounds, nitrogen dioxide, and ozone; 36 papers considered biological pollutants, such as bacteria, viruses, pollen, fungi, etc. An important challenge, common to several studies, is that occupants run the air cleaners for shorter periods and on low airflow rate settings, because of concerns about noise, drafts, and electricity cost, which significantly reduces air cleaning effectiveness.

Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters of low-cost air purifiers in community-based organizations

This study aims to investigate the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in public spaces and assess the utility of inexpensive air purifiers equipped with high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters for viral detection. Samples were collected from six community-based organizations in underserved minority neighborhoods in Northwest Miami, Florida, from February to May 2022. Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) was used to detect SARS-CoV-2 in air purifier filters and surface swabs. Among 32 filters tested, three yielded positive results, while no positive surface swabs were found. Notably, positive samples were obtained exclusively from child daycare centers. These findings highlight the potential for airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in indoor air, particularly in child daycare centers. Moreover, the study demonstrates the effectiveness of readily available HEPA filters in detecting the virus. Improving indoor ventilation and implementing air filtration systems are crucial in reducing COVID-19 transmission where people gather. Air filtration systems incorporating HEPA filters offer a valuable approach to virus detection and reducing transmission risks. Future research should explore the applicability of this technology for early identification and mitigation of viral outbreaks.

Efficient trapping and destruction of SARS-CoV-2 using PECO-assisted Molekule air purifiers in the laboratory and real-world settings

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is transmitted human-to-human via aerosols and air-borne droplets. Therefore, capturing and destroying viruses from indoor premises are essential to reduce the probability of human exposure and virus transmission. While the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems help in reducing the indoor viral load, a targeted approach is required to effectively remove SARS-CoV-2 from indoor air to address human exposure concerns. The present study demonstrates efficient trapping and destruction of SARS-CoV-2 via nano-enabled filter technology using the UV-A-stimulated photoelectrochemical oxidation (PECO) process. Aerosols containing SARS-CoV-2 were generated by nebulization inside an air-controlled test chamber where an air purifier (Air Mini+) was placed. The study demonstrated the efficient removal of SARS-CoV-2 (99.98 %) from the test chamber in less than two minutes and PECO-assisted destruction (over 99%) on the filtration media in 1 h. Furthermore, in a real-world scenario, the Molekule Air-Pro air purifier removed SARS-CoV-2 (a negative RT-qPCR result post-running the filter device) from the circulating air in a COVID-19 testing facility. Overall, the ability of two FDA-approved class II medical devices, Molekule Air-Mini+ and Air-Pro air purifiers, to remove and destroy SARS-CoV-2 in indoor settings was successfully demonstrated. The study indicates that as the "tripledemic" of COVID-19, influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) overwhelm the healthcare facilities in the USA, the use of a portable air filtration device will help contain the spread of the viruses in close door facilities, such as in schools and daycare facilities.

Multi-objective optimization of mechanical ventilation with the aid of purifiers in two scenarios: Regular operation and mitigating the spread of respiratory infectious diseases

COVID-19 and its impact on society have raised concerns about scaling up mechanical ventilation (MV) systems and the energy consequences. This paper attempted to combine MV and portable air cleaners (PACs) to achieve acceptable indoor air quality (IAQ) and energy reduction in two scenarios: regular operation and mitigating the spread of respiratory infectious diseases (RIDs). We proposed a multi-objective optimization method that combined the NSGA-II and TOPSIS techniques to determine the total equivalent ventilation rate of the MV-PAC system in both scenarios. The concentrations of PM_2.5 and CO₂ were primary indicators for IAQ. The modified Wells-Riley equation was adopted to predict RID transmissions. An open office with an MV-PAC system was used to demonstrate the method's applicability. Meanwhile, a field study was conducted to validate the method and evaluate occupants' perceptions of the MV-PAC system. Results showed that optimal solutions of the combined system can be obtained based on various IAQ requirements, seasons, outdoor conditions, etc. For regular operation, PACs were generally prioritized to maintain IAQ while reducing energy consumption even when outdoor PM_2.5 concentration was high. MV can remain constant or be reduced at low occupancies. In RID scenarios, it is possible to mitigate transmissions when the quanta were < 48 h^-1. No significant difference was found in the subjective perception of the MV and PACs. Moreover, the effects of infiltration on the optimal solution can be substantial. Nonetheless, our results suggested that an MV-PAC system can replace the MV system for offices for daily use and RID mitigation.

Electronic Supplementary Material ESM

The Appendix is available in the online version of this article at 10.1007/s12273-023-0999-z.