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Although indoor air purifiers are attracting attention for the purpose of preventing corona19, studies have shown that air purifiers can diffuse the corona19 virus into the air.
Professor Seung-Heon Ham of Gachon University Gil Hospital Department of Occupational Environment and Medicine announced that he has published a research paper in the latest issue of the Epidemiology and Health published by the Korean Society of Epidemiology.
According to the thesis, air purifiers are a method in which most of the air containing pollutants is sucked from the bottom of the machine and filtered to exhaust purified air.
At this time, the purified air should be sent as far as possible, so the wind speed of the outlet is stronger than that of the intake, and a relatively strong airflow is formed around the outlet.
So, assuming that the air purifier is installed on the floor rather than on the office desk, the team's analysis suggests that coughing or splashing around the outlet could result in a widespread spread across the office in an ascending air stream.
In this experiment, the direction of movement of the droplets was observed when the air purifier was operated after artificially generating droplets at heights of 8 cm, 16 cm, and 24 cm, respectively, from the floor.
As a result, it was found that droplets formed at a height of 24 cm closest to the outlet of the humidifier had the highest mobility toward the outlet.
As a result of these experiments, the researchers determined that Corona 19 had more to lose than to get air purifiers.
In particular, in a dense environment such as a call center, the research team believes that an air purifier may be an undesirable option to prevent corona19.
The team also warned that air cleaners could increase the risk of secondary infections by asymptomatic people.
Professor Seung-Hun Ham said, "If you do not even know if you are asymptomatic, you can increase the likelihood of a group infection by just coughing or talking around the air cleaner in the office." According to the 'precautionaryism' principle, as far as Corona 19 is concerned, the use of air cleaners in dense places needs to be re-evaluated. "
Professor Ham estimates that even if the Corona19 virus mixes with droplets and falls on the floor and passes through the filter in the inhaler of the air cleaner, the risk of spreading the infection is estimated to be similar.
The 'dilution ventilation' method of reducing the concentration of harmful substances is not suitable because the corona19 virus is a well-known high-risk biological hazard.
The government's position is the same.
The Corona 19 fact check corner of the 'Happiness Dream' portal operated by the Fair Trade Commission has officially announced that there is no air purifier technology that filters the Corona 19 virus.
In addition, the Korea Consumer Agency and the Korea Fair Trade Commission caught 53 exaggerated advertisements (45 operators) last month, saying that the Corona 19 virus could be blocked with an air cleaner.
"Corona 19 is so different from the virus known so far that many experts do not yet know," said Professor Ham. "Furthermore, there are further studies on the effectiveness and efficiency of air cleaner filters as well as concerns about infection through heaters or air conditioning equipment." I need it. "
(Photo = Prof. Seung Heon Ham, Yonhap News)