{"title":"A Portable Air Purification Device for Occupational Safety of Health Care Professionals","authors":"Navya Sethu, Nayana Patil, Renu Vyas","doi":"10.1007/s41810-025-00317-0","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Healthcare personnel in infectious wards are exposed to bioaerosols, necessitating the use of respirators and personal protective equipment (PPE) to prevent pathogen contact. It is critical to evaluate and enhance the efficiency of portable, commercially available Powered Air Purifying Respirator (PAPR) devices to mitigate the risk of airborne microbial infiltering into the human respiratory system. In this study, a portable, cost-effective, and lightweight ultraviolet (UV) disinfection system was designed and developed. The system actively draws in air, effectively inactivates microorganisms, and releases purified air. The modular HEPA-UVC conjugated PAPR device developed by us can be attached to any existing respirator unit. The device was tested for filtering airborne microbes, mainly bacteria and fungi. Further, the efficiency of the device was assessed by calculating the percentage of airborne bacteria cells and fungal spores. The microbial sampling results indicated that UVC treatment along with HEPA filter operated for 15 min could achieve a 92.63% reduction of bacteria and an 80.43% reduction of fungi as compared to the HEPA filter alone. The time of exposure and flow rate were the dominant parameters affecting the number of bioaerosols in the disinfection performance of a UVC lamp. Thus, HEPA air filtration combined with UVC provided an efficient reduction of airborne pathogens from indoor air. The deployment of such integrated systems is extremely useful to provide cleaner air in infectious wards. These portable devices are a viable method to improve safeguarding healthcare personnel against pathogen infection and prevent the spread of airborne diseases.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":36991,"journal":{"name":"Aerosol Science and Engineering","volume":"10 4","pages":"582 - 590"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3000,"publicationDate":"2025-05-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Aerosol Science and Engineering","FirstCategoryId":"93","ListUrlMain":"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s41810-025-00317-0","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Healthcare personnel in infectious wards are exposed to bioaerosols, necessitating the use of respirators and personal protective equipment (PPE) to prevent pathogen contact. It is critical to evaluate and enhance the efficiency of portable, commercially available Powered Air Purifying Respirator (PAPR) devices to mitigate the risk of airborne microbial infiltering into the human respiratory system. In this study, a portable, cost-effective, and lightweight ultraviolet (UV) disinfection system was designed and developed. The system actively draws in air, effectively inactivates microorganisms, and releases purified air. The modular HEPA-UVC conjugated PAPR device developed by us can be attached to any existing respirator unit. The device was tested for filtering airborne microbes, mainly bacteria and fungi. Further, the efficiency of the device was assessed by calculating the percentage of airborne bacteria cells and fungal spores. The microbial sampling results indicated that UVC treatment along with HEPA filter operated for 15 min could achieve a 92.63% reduction of bacteria and an 80.43% reduction of fungi as compared to the HEPA filter alone. The time of exposure and flow rate were the dominant parameters affecting the number of bioaerosols in the disinfection performance of a UVC lamp. Thus, HEPA air filtration combined with UVC provided an efficient reduction of airborne pathogens from indoor air. The deployment of such integrated systems is extremely useful to provide cleaner air in infectious wards. These portable devices are a viable method to improve safeguarding healthcare personnel against pathogen infection and prevent the spread of airborne diseases.
期刊介绍：
ASE is an international journal that publishes high-quality papers, communications, and discussion that advance aerosol science and engineering. Acceptable article forms include original research papers, review articles, letters, commentaries, news and views, research highlights, editorials, correspondence, and new-direction columns. ASE emphasizes the application of aerosol technology to both environmental and technical issues, and it provides a platform not only for basic research but also for industrial interests. We encourage scientists and researchers to submit papers that will advance our knowledge of aerosols and highlight new approaches for aerosol studies and new technologies for pollution control. ASE promotes cutting-edge studies of aerosol science and state-of-art instrumentation, but it is not limited to academic topics and instead aims to bridge the gap between basic science and industrial applications. ASE accepts papers covering a broad range of aerosol-related topics, including aerosol physical and chemical properties, composition, formation, transport and deposition, numerical simulation of air pollution incidents, chemical processes in the atmosphere, aerosol control technologies and industrial applications. In addition, ASE welcomes papers involving new and advanced methods and technologies that focus on aerosol pollution, sampling and analysis, including the invention and development of instrumentation, nanoparticle formation, nano technology, indoor and outdoor air quality monitoring, air pollution control, and air pollution remediation and feasibility assessments.
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