The development, testing and verification of

Airora's patented technology

 

 

Airora’s multi-million pound scientific, technical and engineering journey has taken more than a decade and has involved several phases of prototype development. 

While Airora’s technology only recreates what happens naturally outside, inside, we have nevertheless required extensive independent testing to demonstrate the safety and performance of all Airora products. Those independent bodies have included:

• The UK Building Research Establishment’s Internal Air Quality Team and Laboratories
• The University of Ottawa
• The UK Government’s Health and Safety Laboratory
• The University of Leeds
• FDA Accredited Laboratory, Rochester, New York State
• Cardiff Metropolitan University
• The UK Government’s Health Protection Agency (Public Health England)
• The University of York
• Campden BRI

 

Biocidal testing - killing viruses, bacteria and moulds

Hydroxyls are known to kill (inactivate) all harmful bacteria, viruses and moulds (fungal spores). 

Our extensive independent test data, from both the laboratory and the field, demonstrate the rapid effectiveness of Airora’s Hydroxyl Cascade technology in killing not only bacteria and viruses, but also moulds.  

The summary below is of just some of our extensive independent test results, from a range of prototypes, all employing Airora’s proprietary technology:

 

Test Facility	Test Type	Test Microbes	Test Method	Chamber	Results
Public Health EnglandReport: 40/06	Airborne	MS-2 Coliphage (Covid-19 surrogate)	Aerosolisation (high concentrations)	18 m3	99.9999% kill in less than 5 minutes
Public Health EnglandReport: 50/07	Airborne	1) Bacillus atrophaeus “aerostable spore” 2) Staphylococcus epidermidis	Aerosolisation (high concentrations)	18 m3	1) 99% kill in 60 minutes  2) 99.999% kill in 2 minutes
Public Health EnglandReport: 63/07	Surfaces(steel & glass)	1) MRSA (low concentrations)  2) MRSA (high concentrations)	1)Tested over 1 & 4hrs.  2a) Tested at 24 hrs  2b) Tested at 48hrs.	18 m3	1) At 1 hour NO surviving MRSA on glass or steel >99.9999% kill  2a) NO surviving MRSA on glass >99.9999% kill and a 99.9% kill on steel  2b) 99.99% kill on steel
BRE & IOM Stafford	Airborne 'Sneeze Test'	1) E.coli 2) Staph Aureus	Simulated sneeze of 250-300mg of liquid onto plate 600mm distant	200 m3, 5 ACH	1) > 99% kill  2) > 99% kill

 

Key findings:

• All non-spore pathogens tested airborne, even MS-2 at high concentrations, are subject to a >99.999% kill rate in minutes.
• Surface-borne MRSA on glass, even at high concentrations, is subject to a 99.9999% kill rate in 1 hour and on all types of surface a 99.9% kill rate in 16 hours.
• A simulated sneeze test with high concentration of bacteria saw a >99% reduction in transmitted live bacteria.

Note that Airora’s technology is ‘always on’ and is designed to constantly maintain maximum suppression of microbial contamination. The time taken to initially reach high kill rates should be read in that context.

Eliminating VOCs and other gaseous pollutants / asthma triggers

It is well documented that the powerful oxidisation effect of hydroxyl radicals breaks down and removes common pollutants, malodours and lung irritants such as high ozone levels, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including formaldehyde, and carbon monoxide.

BRE has undertaken extensive air quality testing of Airora’s technology.  As part of these tests BRE qualified and quantified the test chamber air prior to, as well as during and after testing in order to ascertain exactly the air emissions created by the Airora technology versus the background air.

These tests confirmed that Airora’s technology breaks down ozone, reduces VOC and carbon monoxide concentrations and does not lead to an unsafe level or accumulation of formaldehyde; indeed, formaldehyde is broken down and reduced over time.

Bibliography

• José L. Godínez, Computational Study of the Oxidation of Volatile Organic Compounds, by the OH Radical: An Exploration into the Molecular Realm California State University
• Charles j Weschler and Helen C Sheilds, Production of the Hydroxyl Radical in Indoor Air  Bell Communications Research 
• Michael S. Waring and J. Raymond Wells, Volatile organic compound conversion by ozone, hydroxyl radicals, and nitrate radicals in residential indoor air: Magnitudes and impacts of oxidant sources, Atmos Environ 1994
• Jesse H Kroll, Christopher Y Lim, Sean H Kessler, Kevin R Wilson, Heterogeneous Oxidation of Atmospheric Organic Aerosol: Kinetics of Changes to the Amount and Oxidation State of Particle-Phase Organic Carbon, J Phys Chem 2015 Nov 5

Neutralising allergens

Hydroxyl radicals have been independently shown to reduce IgE-binding capacity of allergens - including Pollens, Non Vegetative Spores, House Dust Mites and Pet Dander - through the degradation and modification of their tertiary structure and / or the induction of protein denaturation and / or aggregation.

The resulting structure is no longer recognised by the body’s immune system and therefore histamine and other chemical mediators are not released.

Bibliography

• Kawamoto S et al., Decrease in the Allergenicity of Japanese Cedar Pollen Allergen by Treatment with Positive and Negative Cluster Ions, International Archive of Allergy and Immunology, 2006, Vol.141, No. 4
• Kazuo Nishikawa et al., Exposure to positively and negatively charged plasma cluster ions impairs IgE binding capacity of indoor cat and fungal allergens, World Allergy Organization Journal 2016
• Garrison, Warren M., Reaction mechanisms in the radiolysis of peptides, polypeptides, and proteins Chemical Reviews. 87 (2): 381–398
• Singh, Juswinder, Atlas of protein side-chain interactions, Thornton, Janet M. Oxford: IRL Press at Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-963361-4

Removing malodours

Malodour experiments are undertaken either by chemical analysis or by human ‘noses’.  

While there is extensive literature demonstrating the ability of hydroxyl radicals to react with, break down, and remove malodours, Airora has also undertaken several human nose experiments.

Using a professional consumer research firm, Airora took twelve groups of recruited consumers, both women and men, through a blindfold experience of an Airora device inside two different test houses.  

Each of the groups was then de-briefed in sessions which were captured on video and a two-minute video summary was produced to illustrate the overwhelmingly positive reactions of the groups.

The language used by these consumer groups to express Airora’s beneficial effect on air freshness speaks for itself!

“outdoors”     “in a spa”     “on holiday by the sea”     “mountains”     “forests”

Ozone and emissions testing

Airora reduces unsafe pre-existing ozone levels.

While ozone occurs naturally, it can nevertheless reach potentially harmful concentrations. 

By employing an entirely safe aromatic plant oil, which destroys ozone while creating hydroxyls, Airora ensures that any harmfully high pre-existing indoor ozone levels are reduced.

All VOC breakdown by-products have been identified and their safety ensured.

Testing by BRE and York University specifically identified ALL by-products of Airora’s Hydroxyl Cascade creation process - including those resulting from the breakdown and removal of the wide range of VOCs typically found in the domestic environment - and confirmed that none are known to be hazardous.

Meeting all regulations, standards and guidelines

UK, EU, AU and US regulators all recognise the inherent safety of hydroxyls.

Humans, animals, and plants have evolved over millennia to co-exist with hydroxyls and their reaction by-products resulting in our skin and mucosal membranes acting as a barrier to atmospheric hydroxyls entering our tissues or blood stream. This is reflected in the recognition of regulatory authorities in the EU, UK, Australia and USA that using hydroxyls for decontamination purposes is intrinsically safe.

The concentration of hydroxyls created by Airora is typical of the outdoors

The outdoor intensity of hydroxyls varies but is typically lower at the Poles and higher in the Tropics. Leeds University’s advanced laser technology has shown that Airora’s technology creates a Hydroxyl Cascade indoors at the lower end of the natural scale, as typically occurs in temperate climes.

Airora's technology meets all regulations, standards and guidelines worldwide.

Airora charged Europe’s leading Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) specialists, the UK’s Building Research Establishment (BRE), to independently ensure that all aspects of Airora’s technology meet, by a wide margin, all national and international regulatory safety standards, and where no such standards exist, fall well within worldwide best practice consensus standards, including those advised by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the US FDA and EPA, AU and the EU.