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EPA COVID-19 Research: Air Treatment and Transit Technologies
Citation:
Ratliff, K. AND L. Oudejans. EPA COVID-19 Research: Air Treatment and Transit Technologies. MDOT Tech Talk, RTP, NC, March 24, 2022.
Impact/Purpose:
This presentation summarizing EPA's transit-related COVID-19 research will be given to the Michigan Department of Transportation as part of their Tech Talk series.
Description:
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the role that airborne transmission can play in the spread of disease. Accordingly, there is increased interest in technologies that claim to reduce or eliminate virus transmission via aerosols in occupied indoor spaces, such as in schools, transit systems, and office buildings. Current limitations on data availability and test design make it challenging to compare how effective different types of technologies will be at reducing the risk of exposure to airborne pathogens in real-world settings. EPA researchers have been evaluating the efficacy of different types of aerosol treatment technologies using a standardized, large-scale testing approach, which facilitates cross-technology comparisons and generates results that are translatable to real-world settings. This presentation will provide an overview of the research methodology and present results from evaluating different types of air treatment devices (bipolar ionization and photocatalytic), an antimicrobial air treatment, and electrostatic filters. It will also summarize ORD's COVID-related research on UVC devices and antimicrobial coatings.