a new technology could kill 99.9% of the deadly germs in the air

You can live without food for three weeks and without water up to three days. But you can not live without air more than three minutes. It's not just the abundance of air that counts, but also the quality. Unfortunately, the air can be contaminated by dangerous germs, called airborne pathogens, such as bacteria and viruses.

Airborne diseases are very easily transmitted and can lead to life-threatening respiratory diseases. It is therefore not surprising that epidemics of infectious diseases transmitted by air are a major public health problem and that researchers are working hard to develop technologies to provide medical care. fresh air. Until now, however, these technologies have had limited success.

Now, a new study suggests that non-thermal plasma – a cold gas composed of electrically charged particles, although it has no overall charge – could inactivate airborne viruses and provide sterile air . Although technology has a long history and many applications (in medicine and the food industry), it is a completely new use for it.

Devastating epidemics

Viruses that can spread through the air include influenza, colds (rhinovirus), chicken pox (chickenpox), mumps, and measles. Measles in particular has been described as a time bomb for public health because many parents do not vaccinate their children. Importantly, vaccination is the only way to completely prevent measles.

Infected individuals can transmit viruses suspended in the air through droplets and small particles excreted during sneezing and coughing. These viruses can be transmitted very quickly from one person to another through the air, especially in high-traffic areas such as schools and retirement homes.

Influenza is one of the most common airborne viruses and is highly contagious. The disease can range from mild to severe respiratory illness and even death, with symptoms including sudden onset of fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose, headache, malaise and muscle and joint pain. Influenza virus can lead to hospitalization and death in high-risk groups, including children, the elderly, pregnant women, people with weakened immune systems – such as HIV or cancer patients – and some people with chronic diseases.

According to the WHO, influenza causes more than 3 million cases of serious illness per year and about 290,000 to 650,000 deaths. The most deadly influenza pandemic was the Spanish flu (H1N1) in 1918-19, which infected about a quarter of the world's population and caused more than 40 million deaths. Recently emerging airborne viruses, such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), have also spread rapidly from China to many countries around the world.

The treatment of mild viral infections carried by the air includes rest and fluids. However, there are no specific antiviral drugs for the treatment of serious infections. It is also very difficult to prevent you from catching them, even though you can reduce exposure by taking good habits such as washing your hands regularly. If you have an infection, you can reduce the risk of transmission by covering sneezing and coughing with a tissue or hospital mask.

Purify the air

There are currently methods of disinfecting air, but they have several limitations. Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI), for example, is a method of disinfection that uses ultraviolet light to kill or inactivate microorganisms by destroying their DNA so that they can not reproduce at the same time. 39, inside the human body. However, overexposure to UVGI has adverse health effects, leading to erythema (superficial redness of the skin) and a painful eye condition called photokeratitis.

Air filtration is a good method of cleaning the air by passing it through a filter that removes particles and prevents external pathogens from entering buildings such as health facilities. However, some airborne pathogens are too small to be removed and can pass through the air filters.

The new method developed by researchers at the University of Michigan, however, offers hope. Their study, published in the Journal of Physics, shows that a non-thermal plasma can inactivate 99.9% of airborne viruses by releasing energetic fragments and loaded with air molecules capable of to destroy viruses in less than a second. Non-thermal plasma can also kill bacteria by destroying their cell wall.

The plasma was produced in a non-thermal plasma reactor. When pathogens in the air pass through it, they react with its unstable atoms called radicals (such as ozone). These alter the lipids, proteins and nucleic acids of the microorganisms they encounter – killing the pathogens or rendering them harmless. The device also works by filtering pathogens from the airflow.

The combination of filtration and inactivation of airborne pathogens will provide a more effective way to provide sterile air than current devices. The research team has already begun testing the reactor on ventilation airflow in a pig farm to determine its effectiveness in preventing the spread of airborne pathogens.

But if the device is effective, is it safe? We know that ozone is related to breathing problems. But the researchers said the device's ozone exposure is in line with regulatory standards, which means it should not pose a safety risk.

It therefore appears that non-thermal plasma reactors have the potential to replace the traditional facial mask and provide sterile air – especially in congested areas such as public transportation, schools and hospitals.

Given the difficulty of preventing the transmission of airborne diseases, this is excellent news. Although we can often choose which foods to eat and which drinks to drink, we can not, after all, choose the air we breathe.