Breathing Is Not An Option; Breathing Clean, Fresh Air Is

April 29, 2009 - PRLog -- EPA urges Americans to "Be Air Aware" during Air Quality Awareness Week, April 27 - May 1, 2009

It seems a bit ironic to read headlines during Air Quality Awareness Week, of a possible Swine Flu Pandemic.  In this age of technology, aren’t high-tech solutions available to help prevent the spread of contagious diseases?  If so, why aren’t more people aware of their availability?  

Energy efficient, electronic technologies that inactivate viruses and other germs are available now.  Most people are simply not aware that that these technologies exist.  Americans need to change their way of thinking about indoor air quality.

When one thinks of clean air, many different images may come to mind.  Usually, the thought is of someplace outdoors, perhaps even long ago, and the scene is usually uninhabited.

Pollution has been happening in nature since the beginning of time.  Some examples are volcanic ash and gasses and wind-blown dust storms.  Nature has cleaned up these problems, so why can’t we clean the indoor air like nature does?  

The answer is, we can.  Nature creates many different methods to clean the outdoor air, because one solution will not work for every type of pollution.  Thunderstorms alone create more than just one solution.  Negative ions created by lightening cause dust and other particulate to clump together, adding weight as they gather to help them fall to the surface.  Rain gathers some of the particles in the atmosphere and brings them to earth.  Thunderstorms also create ozone, one of the most powerful air purifiers found in nature.

While we are on the subject, let’s clear the air concerning the common misconception about “good” ozone and “bad” ozone.  Ozone has gotten plenty of bad press, so here is some good news.  There is only one Ozone - O3.  The O3 found up in the ozone layer is also present in the air we breathe, daily.  Ozone is a powerful oxidizer, excellent at cleaning air and water.  We could not exist without the ozone layer, nor could we exist without the ozone present here in our terrestrial environment.

There can, however, be too little, enough or too much ozone.  The United States Environmental Protection Agency recommends that levels should be lower than 50 parts per billion in the air we breathe.  Higher levels could cause various health issues.

We must also understand that ozone levels do not increase arbitrarily.  When ozone levels outdoors increase, pollution levels have first increased to trigger nature’s response with increased ozone levels.  

Ozone is measured, mainly in cities across the USA, to determine the level of pollution, since it is far easier to measure ozone than it is to measure all of the different pollutants that ozone is working to clean up.  Of course, too much ozone can be harmful to humans, as can the many dangerous pollutants that ozone neutralizes.  If we were to remove the ozone, we would be putting ourselves at great risk.

So, what do we need?  We need a quiet, energy efficient, indoor system that replicates nature’s wonderfully complex and complete system as nearly as possible.  These systems are already available.

How does such a system work?  Beginning with ultraviolet (UV) light, it catalytically converts ozone into other oxidants present in nature’s tool box. Photocatalytic oxidation, as the technology is called in general recreates the outdoors, indoors.  More advanced forms use moisture in the air to create a small, safe amount of ozone to supplement ozone already present in the air.  Most of that ozone is then converted into organic peroxides, super oxide ions, passive negative ions, hydroxides and ozonide ions.  These same oxidizers are created by the UV light of the sun outdoors.  They attack and inactivate germs and odors in the air and on surfaces.  Indoors this technology sanitizes the entire indoor environment, continuously.  Germs simply don’t stand a chance.  

Reputable scientists have begun concluding that hand washing does not prevent the spread of infectious diseases to its intended effect. This failure can be attributed to the fact that many of these contaminants are both airborne and surfaceborne. A surface sanitized by means of a disinfectant will soon be re-infected by microbes left in the air. Additionally, people are infected more often by airborne diseases than they are by surface-borne. The best solution is to continuously sanitize the indoor air and surfaces, just as nature does.

People are needlessly exposed to infectious diseases and harmful bacteria.  The technology is available and is affordable.  All public buildings can and should have this type of technology installed in the existing heating and air-conditioning ductwork to help protect building occupants from the spread of air and surface-borne bacteria, viruses and fungi.  The American public needs to be protected.  

If you’d like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview with Glen Coleman please call Florene Miller at 1-877-268-3245 or email Florene at miller@aotechgroup.com .

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AO Technologies, Inc. is a team of indoor environmental experts dedicated to providing the best, green solutions available for indoor environmental issues. The company is headquartered in Ashburn, VA, with offices in VA and NC and has global capabilities.