Since the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the world, the trend of buying electronic devices throughout 2021 has now shifted to various tools that support health and hygiene. One of them that is gaining popularity is the air purifier.
How not, the pandemic situation teaches humans to live healthier and cleaner lives. Implementing hygiene and health, both indoors and outdoors, has now become a new habit that everyone must do to avoid being exposed to the Corona virus.
Throughout 2021, we can see a new lifestyle where people buy air purifiers to breathe clean oxygen indoors. Along with its development, air purifier technology is also continuously updated to meet the needs of its users for good quality air.
Is the air purifier effective at killing viruses and purifying the air? One of the electronics manufacturers, Sharp Corporation, through the air purifier technology it developed, showed that the infection titer of SARS-CoV-2, the new Corona virus that causes COVID-19, including the variant strain contained in human saliva and could be reduced by more than 99.4 %.
This is done by exposing or spraying Plasmacluster Ions for two hours at a humidity level in the range of 60% (Relative Humidity). This figure is the recommended condition for fighting viral infections.
The research was successfully carried out under the supervision of Professor Hironori Yoshiyama of the Department of Microbiology, Shimane University School of Medicine (a member of the Council of the Japanese Society of Virology), Professor Shigeru Watanabe, Meikai University School of Health Sciences, and Professor Masashi Yamakawa, Department of Mechanical and Systems Engineering, Kyoto Institute of Technology. .
In general, the mode of transmission of the new Corona virus is divided into two, namely transmission through droplets which then spread the virus in the air and direct contact transmission by viruses attached to the surface of an object.
Based on this, in September 2020, Sharp conducted a study to test the effectiveness of Plasmacluster technology in reducing SARS-CoV-2 in the air, and this time, Sharp has just succeeded in proving the effectiveness of Plasmacluster Ions in reducing SARS-CoV-2 adhering to surfaces. thing.
First, Sharp did some research on droplet particles with different humidity levels that were simulated into areas of everyday life.
The case simulation results show, when a person coughs in an area of the room with different humidity levels, namely 30% and 60%, it is seen that the number of droplet particles suspended in the air around people with a 60% humidity level in the room is much less and the droplets will fall immediately. and stick to the table surface.
Compared to someone who is in an area of the room with a humidity level of 30%, the droplets will still float and be suspended in the air.
"To prevent viral infection, it is important to keep the room area at a relative humidity level of about 60% with humidification, so as to prevent the mucosa of the human respiratory tract from drying out, maintain immune function, and to suppress the effectiveness of the spread of the virus," commented Hironori Yoshiyama, Professor, Department of Microbiology. , Shimane University School of Medicine.
However, Yoshiyama added, while an area with 60% relative humidity reduces the number of droplet particles suspended in the air and adhering to the surface of objects, it is also necessary to consider precautions against viruses adhering to objects.
"In this verification, Plasmacluster technology significantly inactivated SARS-CoV-2 contained in droplets adhered to various surfaces under conditions of 60% humidity in which the physiological protective function was maintained. Recent results also demonstrate the ability of Plasmacluster Ions to suppress viral strain variants, which can be applied to new variants that have the potential to appear in the future," he said.
Based on these results, Sharp considered it important to verify if a humidity level of 60% had an effect on reducing the amount of SARS-CoV-2 that fell and adhered to surfaces so as to reduce the risk of transmitting the virus in the air through droplets.
Furthermore, since most of the infectious droplets that cause viral transmission come from saliva, Sharp measured and compared infection titers in areas with a humidity level of 60% between SARS-CoV-2 mixed with a liquid medium commonly used for virus testing and SARS-CoV- 2 mixed with saliva.
The results showed that the infectious virus titer on liquid media remained less than 1% after 2 hours, while on saliva media, about 56% remained intact.
Based on the results of research conducted, it is proven that if the effectiveness of Plasmacluster technology is verified, it can reduce the titer of infection transmission including new variants by more than 99.4%.
Going forward, Sharp is committed to continuing to contribute to society by conducting various advanced studies on the effectiveness of Plasmacluster technology.
The trend of a healthy lifestyle in the New Normal era seems to be continuing and growing until 2022. Who would have thought, the air purifier has now become an electronic device that everyone needs.
