Zacharias Nicole, Haag Alexandra, Brang-Lamprecht Regina, Gebel Jürgen, Essert Sarah M, Kistemann Thomas, Exner Martin, Mutters Nico T, Engelhart Steffen
Institute for Hygiene and Public Health, University Hospital Bonn, Venusberg-Campus 1, 53127 Bonn, Germany.
Institute for Hygiene and Public Health, University Hospital Bonn, Venusberg-Campus 1, 53127 Bonn, Germany.
Sci Total Environ. 2021 Jun 10;772:144956. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.144956. Epub 2021 Feb 1.
For testing the effectiveness of air purification devices in regard to the reduction of virus-containing aerosols, a test method involving test viruses has been lacking until now. The use of bacteriophages (phiX174 phages) is a method to test the efficiency of air purification devices under experimental conditions. Using air purifiers with a HEPA filter H14, a 4.6-6.1 Log reduction of test viruses can be achieved if bacteriophages are directly aerosolised into the air purifier, which corresponds to a reduction of 99.9974-99.9999%. Due to the complexity and individuality of air flow, an experimental approach was used in which all outside influences were minimised. The experimental setup was practical and chosen to project a scenario of direct transmission by an emitting source to a recipient. The experiments were performed with and without the air purifier at a distance of 0.75 m and 1.5 m each. Using the air purifier at a setting of 1000 m/h, the concentration of the phiX174 phages in the air could be reduced by 2.86 Log (mean value). Nevertheless, the experiments without the air purifier showed a similar reduction rate of 2.61 Log (mean value) after 35 min. The concentration of phiX174 phages in the air could be additionally reduced up to 1 log step (maximum value) by the use of the air purifier in comparison to the experiments without. Distance was shown to be an important factor for risk reduction.
迄今为止，在测试空气净化设备减少含病毒气溶胶方面的有效性时，一直缺乏一种涉及测试病毒的方法。使用噬菌体（φX174噬菌体）是在实验条件下测试空气净化设备效率的一种方法。使用配备H14高效空气过滤器的空气净化器，如果将噬菌体直接雾化到空气净化器中，可使测试病毒减少4.6-6.1个对数级，这相当于减少99.9974-99.9999%。由于气流的复杂性和个体性，采用了一种实验方法，将所有外部影响降至最低。实验装置切实可行，旨在模拟从传染源到接受者的直接传播场景。实验分别在距离0.75米和1.5米处，有空气净化器和无空气净化器的情况下进行。将空气净化器设置为1000米/小时，空气中φX174噬菌体的浓度可降低2.86个对数级（平均值）。然而，在没有空气净化器的实验中，35分钟后显示出类似的降低率，为2.61个对数级（平均值）。与无空气净化器的实验相比，使用空气净化器可使空气中φX174噬菌体的浓度额外降低多达1个对数级（最大值）。距离被证明是降低风险的一个重要因素。
