Third-Party Verification of AIr Disinfection Efficacy Claims
Because air disinfection or purification devices don’t need to be registered with the EPA, companies that make them aren’t required to disclose their efficacy data or verify their efficacy claims in their marketing materials.
Even though air cleaning devices don’t have to be registered, the EPA does have guidelines for the appropriate type and size of bioaerosol chamber in which to test. Scientific Air Management products are tested under these strict EPA guidelines and have laboratory-verifiable pathogen-killing efficacy.
Two independent, nationally recognized lab facilities (Environmental Diagnostics Laboratory and MicroChem Laboratory), using EPA guideline conditions, performed efficacy testing in airborne pathogen killing rates. The following are the tests results and compiled reports.
Per EPA guidelines, Scientific Air Management adhered to the following test protocols:
Test methods employed
Contact time (minutes vs. hours)
Type of pathogen
Killing percentage (minimum 99.9995%)
Air Disinfection Field Studies
The EPA conditions above are difficult to apply in field studies and are hard to accomplish in hospital settings.
For field studies to achieve the same efficiency in testing parameters, they should be conducted at unbiased facilities with the same scientific test conditions that eliminate all testing room variables, like:
Variable source contamination
Personnel and visitor traffic
Equipment movement
Open doors
HVAC inefficiencies
Concise testing should only include the pathogens being tested and the air management device itself within a standard size room.
The field study below, Pharmacy Compounding, is the closest on-site testing to match laboratory conditions. Due to the nature of the sealed and closely regulated pharmacy Anteroom and ChemoRoom, laboratory-like conditions were achieved as the tests were performed in these areas.
MicroChem Laboratory
MicroChem conducted a custom aerosol study, also with the goal of testing efficacy in airborne pathogen killing rates.
When the SAM400 was left in the room for 30 minutes, it killed 99.9995% of pathogens.
UR Particulate Field Study
A case study conducted at the University of Rochester Medical Center, a major hospital, showed 99.99% efficiency in the 0.3 micron particulate range when a SAM400 was in a typical patient room.
Testers used a typical patient room with a Central Air Handler Unit with 95% filtration attachments.
Environmental Diagnostics Laboratory (EDL) Testing
Four bacterial pathogens were tested to validate the efficacy of the SAM400 model.
A clear trend was observed in the elimination of airborne bacteria from the test chamber. The following report summarizes the lab’s findings.
Pharmacy Compounding Case Study/Test
A Florida hospital compounding pharmacy used SAM400 to pass requirements for USP797 – CAG-009 in September 2018.
Chemotherapy and ante rooms in the hospital were out of compliance prior to the introduction of SAM’s air disinfection machine.