Air Purifier for Viruses

Airborne viruses have the power to stop economies. The COVID-19 epidemic has shown that these unseen infectors shouldn’t be ignored. Some viruses, like the hepatitis B virus, are only transmitted through blood. Others, like the influenza virus and the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, can be transmitted through the air. An air purifier for viruses can remove the majority of airborne viruses from the air.

Trapping Viruses

Viruses are breathtakingly small. The COVID-19 virus is 0.1 microns in diameter.¹ For comparison, human hairs run between 20 to around 180 microns across. This means 200 coronavirus particles could fit in the width of the finest human hairs.

Given how miniscule they are, it is a wonder that an air purifier for viruses is able to capture them at all. HEPA or ULPA filters are rated according to their ability to efficiently trap at least 99.97% or 99.999% of 0.3-micron particles from the air, respectively. This is the most penetrating particle size, or MPPS, for High Efficiency Particulate Air or Ultra Low Particulate Air filters. Particles that are larger, like pet dander and pollen, or smaller, like viruses, are actually stopped at even higher rates.

If you are hoping to reduce the likelihood that you will be exposed to viruses, the placement of an air purifier counts. Air that exits the air purifier may be nearly virus-free, but if someone that is infected is between you and the clean air, then you’re getting all the viruses that they are shedding. Don’t rely on the presence of an air purifier to protect you from exposure, but an air purifier can help reduce the overall number of viral particles in the air in a room.

The Definition of a Virus

Although viruses have significant and often devastating effects on living things, they are not, technically, alive. This is because a virus consists of little more than some genetic material wrapped in a protein coat called a capsid.

A living organism like a bacteria or human will carry all the genes to make an entire bacteria or human, including the machinery to interpret those genes. A virus, however, hijacks the machinery that interprets genes and uses it to make more copies of the virus. Importantly, the virus does not include copies of how to make the machinery that makes the copies. This is why viruses aren’t considered to be truly living things.