​The UK’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) has produced timely advice on the effectiveness and safety (or otherwise) of air cleaning technologies and devices in the context of fighting COVID-19.

​While the advice focusses on pre-Airora technologies, it is a valuable contribution as it brings together, in one place, the various scientific concerns that older technologies, including HEPA and similar filters, UV-C, Ionisers, PCO and PECO, plasma, electrostatic precipitation, UV-A & UV-B and chemical sprays, are really not up to the job.

​As can be seen from the above summary, SAGE has little positive to say about pre-Airora air cleaning technologies, limiting their positive recommendations to ‘HEPA and UV-C type filters might help if – see long list of conditions!’.

Given the poor performance of pre-Airora technologies, let us now look at how Airora’s new technology meets those questions that SAGE poses when considering the ability of air cleaners to suppress airborne pathogens safely and effectively within a building:

Is there evidence that Airora is demonstrably effective against SARS-Cov-2?
Airora’s technology has been demonstrated to be highly effective against MS2 Coliphage, an accepted surrogate (as agreed by the CDC & EPA) for SARS-Cov-2. Indeed, the UK HPA Laboratory at Porton Down measured Airora’s technology achieving a Log 6 kill (99.9999%) of high concentration airborne MS2 in under 5 minutes.

Is there multiplicity of relevant, accurate and independent test data as to Airora’s efficacy, both in the laboratory and the ‘real world’?
Yes

Has Airora demonstrated that it does not generate secondary chemical products which lead to health effects such as respiratory or skin irritation?
Yes, uniquely amongst air cleaner technologies, Airora and its expert advisors have identified the entire inventory of secondary chemical products and can confirm that none are known to be hazardous.

Does Airora’s technology create unintended consequences, such as noise, changes in temperature or drafts? No, Airora is not a filter requiring a powerful fan, it disperses its active ingredients gently and quietly.

Can Airora’s technology mitigate short range person-to-person viral transmission?
Given the log 6 reduction of MS-2 achieved in minutes we expect so (and are working on testing to demonstrate this effect).

Is Airora’s technology sensitive to environmental conditions?
No, within normal ranges Airora’s performance is not sensitive to temperature or relative humidity.

Is Airora’s technology sensitive to ventilation rates, room size, room shape, device positioning within the space, air flow within the room etc.?
No, unlike filters of all types, Airora’s technology is not sensitive to air change rates of up to five per hour, an unusually high figure, nor is it sensitive to room shape nor air flow within the room because its active ingredients are not dispersed by air movement but by molecular diffusion. Device position within the space is also not generally critical. Room size is important in that rooms should be no larger, nor smaller, than that indicated in the individual Airora product specification.

Does any ozone produced by Airora remain below 0.2 ppm?
Yes. Airora both produces trace levels and breaks down ozone, preventing its build-up, ensuring that levels remain far below not just the 0.2ppm limit referred to by SAGE, but well below even the tightest regulation and / or recommendations (0.05ppm) worldwide.

Does any formaldehyde produced by Airora remain below 0.2 ppm?
Yes. Airora both produces trace levels and breaks down formaldehyde, preventing its build-up, ensuring that levels remain far below not just the 0.2ppm limit referred to by SAGE, but well below even the tightest regulation and / or recommendations (0.08ppm) worldwide.

Does Airora produce ultra-fine and nano particles?
Yes. Airora both produces and removes (vaporises) ultra-fine and nano particles and testing has shown that there is no build-up of ultra-fines.
​
Is there any UV-C ‘seepage’?
Our devices have been tested for UV-C leakage in accordance with BS EN ISO 15858:2016.

How Fresh Air Fights Infections such as Flu and Coronaviris
You might think that going outside in the cold makes you more likely to ‘catch a cold’. But in fact, colds, the flu and COVID-19 spread much more easily inside. Let us explain …

How are infections such as Flu and Coroanvirus spread?
Both flu (and the common cold) and Coronaviruses such as COVID-19 are caused by viruses, which are spread through exposure to respiratory secretions (i.e. an infected person’s sneezes or coughs). The virus can be spread through the air, personal contact (such as a handshake), or by touching contaminated objects.

How long do these viruses remain infectious?

​As you can see, these can  hang around indoors for up to 72 hours – and people can shed huge numbers of cold / flu viruses into the air which can in turn settle onto surfaces: 

Nature’s outdoors remedy - Hydroxyls
However, outside, you’re much less likely to catch these viruses. That’s because Hydroxyl Radicals, which occur naturally and abundantly in the air outside, kill all human pathogens on contact, including cold and flu viruses.
Hydroxyl Radicals are commonly known as ‘Nature’s Detergent’, and we think they are pretty amazing!

15 weeks into the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists know a lot more about how the disease is transmitted.

The highest risk for public health is from crowded indoor spaces with poor ventilation, and especially with
prolonged face-to-face interactions. In close proximity, people speaking, coughing, singing, or simply
breathing can produce respiratory droplets containing the COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) virus. These droplets
may land on the nose, mouth or eyes of another person close by.

There is also increasing consensus that some droplets may become aerosolized, and hang about in the air. One study due to be published found that SARS-CoV-2 survives aerosolization better than other coronaviruses and maintains infectivity in aerosols for at least 16 h. Strong air conditioners or fans can spread these droplets further within an enclosed space. Last week, a review article published in Science stated that 'a large proportion of the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) appears to be occurring through airborne transmission of aerosols produced by asymptomatic individuals during breathing and speaking' and that therefore 'For society to resume, measures designed to reduce aerosol transmission must be implemented'. 

Droplets may also land on surfaces. Although surface contamination generally has a much lower risk than
airborne particles, studies show that the virus can stay active on plastic and metal for up to 7 days. The
highest risk comes from high-contact furnishings such as door handles, toilet flushes, handrails, payment
terminals, lift/elevator buttons, and, ironically, hand sanitiser dispensers and protective screens. Flushing toilets can also 'create clouds of virus-containing particles', according to recent research published in Physics of Fluids.

Outdoors, where people can usually distance themselves from each other more effectively, the risk is
greatly reduced. Air movement helps to dilute virus-carrying droplets. Critically, hydroxyls are also
abundant in outdoor air, especially in conditions with lots of sunlight and humidity, and these powerful
molecules continually inactivate viruses in the air and on surfaces. However, indoors is where most of us
live, work, do errands like shopping, and spend a lot of our leisure time; realistically, we can’t avoid being
near other human beings, and most of us don’t want to!

Masks, distancing, increased hygiene, and other behavioural changes can all help reduce risks, and of
course medical researchers are working urgently to develop vaccines and effective treatments. However,
other long-term solutions are needed to help us get us back to, and continue to enjoy, our normal way of
life. We’re proud to have developed the world’s first products to provide 24/7 decontamination of entire
indoor spaces - air and surfaces - so people can safely get on with their lives.

More reading:
Reducing transmission of SARS-CoV-2 - Science, 26 June 2020
How Exactly Do You Catch Covid-19? There Is a Growing Consensus - Wall Street Journal, 16 June
2020
At work, school and seeing friends: How to lower your coronavirus risk - New Scientist, 27 May 2020

The Airora patented technology is a Hydroxyl Cascade air and surface sanitiser capable of destroying all types of harmful bacteria and viruses, including the COVID-19 coronavirus.

While it is not possible at this time (for safety reasons) to test our technology directly against the COVID-19 virus, we know that Airora's technology destroys ALL types of pathogenic viruses, including those in the coronavirus family (which includes the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus that causes COVID-19), in the air and on surfaces. 

This is demonstrated by the testing carried out by Public Health England's microbiologists at Porton Down using MS2 Coliphage virus as a surrogate. In every test, our process quickly rendered MS2 Coliphage inactive in the air and on surfaces.  

​The microbiologists at Porton Down use MS2 Coliphage as a gold-standard surrogate for pathogens because it is exceedingly difficult to inactivate. If you can use a process to inactivate MS2 Coliphage then that process would be expected to inactivate all types of pathogenic virus and bacteria. Like all coronaviruses, MS2 is a positive sense single-stranded RNA virus and studies have shown that it is 7 to 10 times more resistant to denaturation (i.e. harder to inactivate) than a coronavirus. ​​​ In the Porton Down tests, our technology was demonstrated to kill 99.9999% of MS2 Coliphage in an 18-cubic-metre testing chamber in less than 5 minutes.

Airora creates a 'Hydroxyl Cascade' which is well known to destroy all human pathogens, both viruses and bacteria. Our technology has been demonstrated in multiple leading independent testing facilities to quickly, efficiently and safely destroy human pathogens, both viruses and bacteria, in the air and on surfaces. 

Hydroxyl Radicals, often called 'nature's detergent', are lethal to both pathogenic viruses and bacteria (gram –ve & +ve), for example MRSA, C. difficile, Salmonella, Norovirus, cold and flu viruses, and coronaviruses. NASA even deployed hydroxyl air purification against Anthrax.

As well as destroying airborne pathogens, hydroxyl radicals strip them, layer by layer, from smooth exposed surfaces. 

Hydroxyls kill bacteria, viruses and mould spores by reacting with the lipids and proteins in their thin, delicate cell wall causing lysis (breaking down of cell membranes). Pathogenic viruses suffer from oxidation of their surface structures; when hydroxyls react with viruses, they disrupt the lipid envelope and/or capsid (protein shell) around the virus and inactivate the protein used to enter human cells. Hydroxyl radicals also penetrate the interior of the virus and disrupt the genome (RNA content). These reactions inactivate the virus, rendering it completely harmless and unable to infect humans and animals. 

Other safety and efficacy tests of Airora technology have been successfully performed in labs as well as real world settings (a coffee shop, care home, and cinema), by institutions such as the UK Building Research Establishment (BRE), the University of Ottowa, and the FDA Laboratory in Rochester, NY.​

View detailed testing data: Testing and Verification of Airora’s Patented Technology.

Learn more about how Airora destroys different types of pollution, including viruses: The Chemistry of Hydroxyl Radical Air Cleaning.

Read an example of hydroxyls inactivating human coronaviruses.

Image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019%E2%80%9320_coronavirus_pandemic#/media/File:SARS-CoV-2_49534865371.jpg