4 effective ways to destroy airborne pathogens

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has made it more important than ever for us to ensure that we breathe in pure air. The pathogens for diseases like this or a flu are transmitted through the air. While you cannot do much about the air outdoors, you can control its quality indoors. There are many ways to help improve the air quality, such as cross-ventilation, air filtration, UV light disinfection, etc. For now, let’s look at the four most effective ways to destroy airborne pathogens.

Improving Ventilation

Airborne pathogens keep circulating in the room until the air in the space can be diluted with clean air from the outside. Designing spaces with proper cross-ventilation is one of the most effective ways to decrease the concentration of airborne pathogens in a room. When it comes to ventilating a room, remember that hot air rises and cool air flows at a lower height. Typically, the air from outside will be cooler than the air inside.

Air distribution

Pathogens for diseases like COVID and the seasonal flu are emitted when we breathe out or talk. The air flow pattern in the room determines the path taken by these pathogens. Thus, it is important to design a system for proper air distribution. For this, you will need to work with an HVAC expert to understand how a pathogen behaves, how it is transmitted and survives in the air. With this information, they can manipulate temperature and humidity settings to make them unfavorable to the pathogens.

Filtering the air

In addition to keeping your room well ventilated with a proper airflow pattern, you also need to filter the air. Negative air machines use air pressure to keep pathogens out of a room. There are many other types of filters available too. The efficacy of these air filters varies based on the technology they use and the type of air pollutants they are filtering. For example, there’s a big difference between filtering out invisible viruses and dust particles. This system is extremely advantageous in rooms with low ventilation rates.

UV light disinfection

The first three points do not kill pathogens but they move them out of the room and make the air cleaner to breathe. With UV light, you can kill the components of the virus responsible for their multiplication. Once a virus cannot multiply, it cannot spread a disease either. This type of disinfection is ideal for homes as well as high risk institutions like hospitals. Studies have shown that ultraviolet light can disinfect the air in a room and curb the spread of a disease like tuberculosis by up to 80%. 

Conclusion

While wearing a mask does reduce the number of pathogens being emitted into the air, you must still pay attention to disinfecting the air and killing the airborne pathogens. UV light is slowly gaining popularity as an excellent way to disinfect air and reduce the risk of catching a viral flu. As long as it is used according to the product guidelines, these disinfectants do not pose any threat to humans. 

Healthcare facilities, educational institutions and other commercial spaces can use Minionlabs’ UV Saaph, a portable device, to keep the areas clean and free from the dangerous pathogens. It can disinfect germs both on surfaces and objects.