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 outside, inside, we have nevertheless required extensive independent testing to demonstrate the safety and performance of all Airora products. Those independent bodies have included:
Hydroxyls are known to kill (inactivate) all harmful bacteria, viruses and moulds (fungal spores). Our extensive 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. A summary of just some of our extensive independent test results, from a range of prototypes, all employing Airora’s proprietory technology, is provided below.
Notes:
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.
By testing against MS2, the CDC confirms that hydroxyl radicals will inactivate pathogens in levels 1 – 4 of that Spaulding Classification, including all those in the coronavirus family (which includes the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus that causes COVID-19). Level 5 Mycobacteria are basically no different in structure to other more susceptible bacteria and as Airora produces a never-ending supply of hydroxyls, even clumps of cells, thick layers and heavy cell walls are expected to eventually succumb. We are not aware of any pathogens which will not ultimately succumb to hydroxyl radical attack.
It is well documented that the powerful oxidisation effect of hydroxyl radicals removes common pollutants, malodours and common lung irritants such as ozone, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), 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
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
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 12 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 (over 7hrs) 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”
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 background indoor ozone levels are automatically reduced.
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 harmful.
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 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 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 and the EU.