Air Filtration and Energy Solutions Specialist at Camfil
Camfil’s Martin Gravel has worked with a wide range of air filtration applications throughout the last fourteen years, specializing in helping facilities find the right solutions for their needs and to do more with less, particularly using absolute HEPA filters some of which can t remove 99.99999% of harmful particles effectively.
Riverdale, NJ, Aug. 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The threat of COVID-19 is far from over. As reopening measures continue with varying degrees of success, a greater emphasis is being placed on strategies that offer a higher level of protection.
Experts from Camfil, a leader in air filtration solutions with applications ranging from commercial buildings and industrial applications such as the food and beverage industry to highly sensitive biosafety labs, share their advice in a new video. Camfil’s Martin Gravel has worked with a wide range of air filtration applications throughout the last fourteen years, specializing in helping facilities find the right solutions for their needs and to do more with less, particularly using absolute HEPA filters some of which can t remove 99.99999% of harmful particles effectively.
“The air filtration industry is clearly a defensive one,” says Mark Davidson, Manager of Marketing and Technical Materials at Camfil USA, “Our goal is to put up a defense against the enemy, so to speak, droplets carrying the COVID-19 virus.”
There are two enemies' to target: large respiratory droplets, and droplet nuclei. When we simply breathe regularly, we release about 50 droplets per second, and more when we talk, cough, sneeze or sing.
How Can We Defend Ourselves Against Respiratory Droplets?
Even though they’re invisible to the naked eye, respiratory droplets are large in the world of particulate matter — specifically, larger than five microns in diameter — meaning that they don’t stay airborne for very long. Respiratory droplets are primarily encountered in close contact with other people, or after they settle on surfaces. Many of the existing measures are designed to protect us from this form of transmission, including:
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Maintaining 6-foot social distancing.
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Limiting excessive contact with strangers, or exposure to public places.
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Wearing masks in public places or at gatherings with people outside of our households.
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Frequently and thoroughly sanitizing surfaces.
How Can We Defend Ourselves Against Aerosols?
Droplet nuclei — sometimes referred to as aerosols, are smaller than five microns in diameter. Because of their lightweight, they can remain suspended in the air for longer periods of time. There is a growing suspicion that airborne droplet nuclei and aerosols may contribute to an increase in transmission rates far greater than originally believed. For example, researchers have shown that airflow in a restaurant in Guangzhou, China, contributed significantly to spreading the virus from one man to nine other people. (Asymptomatic cases are not included in this figure, so the actual number may have been higher.)