Can You Reduce Risks of Coronavirus & Viral Infections by Improving Indoor Air Quality?
“Influenza and other respiratory diseases can spread efficiently in winter not necessarily because of the temperature but because human beings
“Influenza and other respiratory diseases can spread efficiently in winter not necessarily because of the temperature but because human beings
Yes, there is a lot of talk and a lot of media about air pollution and it’s negative impact on the planet, our Eco system and your health. All of it absolutely important and completely vital to our future – to your future. In fact, we at Energy Professionals are avid supporters of pollution reduction. We help companies build clean and renewable energy strategies, and help businesses and industrial energy clients reach their sustainable energy goals.
But with Coronavirus now becoming a world wide epidemic and drastic measures being taken to halt it’s spread, it’s important that we talk about indoor air quality; not just as another angle to help with the current Coronavirus problem, but as a preventative action from any viral infections, bacteria and other health hazards that live within the air you breathe every time you are at your office, in your home, in a restaurant or super market.
The key question here is simply: “Where do you spend most of your time?”
While have another article that covers some intense facts about air quality, for the purpose of this topic, we are going to highlight two fact that will help you better understand why we are stressing indoor air quality in relation to helping reduce the spread of Coronavirus or any virus, flu or bacterial infection for that matter.
In answer to the question, can you prevent viral infections from spreading by improving indoor air quality?; well, anything that improves health essentially helps reduce the spread of a viruses. Here are two facts that illustrate why:
1. THE EPA RANKS INDOOR AIR QUALITY AS A TOP 5 ENVIRONMENTAL DANGER
For several years now, EPA has ranked indoor air pollution as one of the most concerning dangers that we face on a day to day basis. In fact, on average, indoor air contains 5 times more pollutants than outdoor air. If that sounds extremely alarming and surprising, it is! But take a second to think about it. If you spray a cleaning chemical in your office, where does it go? If you spray that same chemical outside, where does it go? If you sneeze inside, where does that go? And if you sneeze outside, where does that go? The difference is pretty clear.
Outside there are trees and plants that are designed to recycle and clean the air. Outside you have wind and water to move and absorb and renew air. But now let’s look at inside. Inside, you have walls and windows that, while they protect you from outside elements, they at the same time trap things like chemicals, bacteria, viruses and many other things. Add to that, air conditioners or heating systems that recycle the air and create an unbelievably dirty build up of mold, bacteria, viruses and things inside the ducts, the same ducts that blow that same air back indoors. And while most air conditioners are designed to help exchange inside air, without air from outside, none of them do 100% perfect job at it if not well maintained and cleaned on a regular basis.
2. THE QUALITY OF INDOOR AIR CAN BE UP TO 100X MORE POLLUTED THAN OUTSIDE AIR.
So if the first datum was surprising, this second one is probably a shock. Maybe even hard to believe. But it’s not something we’re making up nor is it something we are claiming. It’s a result of studies reported on by the EPA. While on average, indoor aid quality is 2 – 5 times as bad, in extreme cases it can be over 100X worse than outside air.
A PICTURE IS WORTH 1000 WORDS:
We know some of this is a little hard to believe. So here’s is an actual picture taken by our HVAC Specialist of a restaurant’s air duct – a restaurant that seemingly had absolutely no air quality problems:
So let’s circle back to the original question and the whole topic that we’re speaking about:
Can you prevent viral infections from spreading by improving indoor air quality?
Well, how does Coronavirus, or any viral infection, impact a building?
Virus’ are spread person to person, co-occupied spaces are particularly susceptible areas of transmission and further spreading. The more people, the more contact, the more susceptible areas are. Offices, classrooms, shared office spaces, public spaces like retail store and airports and so on. Viral infections contaminate these areas in three main ways:
1. Person to person contact that spread the infection.
2. Infected droplets settling on high touch surfaces.
3. Viruses entering, settling and travelling in your buildings HVAC system.
Energy Professionals has teamed up with Pure Air to bring indoor air quality solutions to businesses with a special five step program, utilizing high-tech registered disinfection solutions that cover all high touch surfaces, all HVAC systems and all behind the scene areas. For more information or to get a free consultation to help sanitize your business contact us at (888) 407-3152 or at info@energyprofessionals.com
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