Ozone Coronavirus covid 19

Why Ozone is the Gold Standard for Disinfection of SARS-Contaminated Areas?

Why is it important to disinfect air? 

Do we truly need to disinfect the air?

The outbreak of SARS worldwide in March 2003 began to generate more awareness of transmission of airborne respiratory diseases in indoor environments. Evidence(1) demonstrates that SARS & SARS types Coronavirus can survive in exhaled respiratory droplets for up to several days. This means people breathing air that contains these droplets are at much higher risk of infection & contracting these diseases. Because this holds true, new methods are needed for new reliable & efficient air disinfection methods to be used when decontaminating these high-risk areas.

Existing Modalities for air disinfection

One of the most common methods employed it the use of ultraviolet (UV) radiation. When given a long enough exposure to UV radiation (UV-C) kills viruses and bacteria by damaging the DNA/RNA inside the microorganism’s cells. Unfortunately, due to the long dwell time requirements, UV radiation is only able to disinfect air close to the lamps because UV light has limited penetration capacity and the airborne viruses and bacteria don’t get exposed for long enough. Another issue is one of shadows. UV light and typically only treat the top sides of objects in a room being treated. All buildings contains nooks and crannies and three dimensional interfaces where viruses, bacteria, nano-bacteria and spores can hide.

With the recent coronavirus outbreak, well-known air cleaning methods are being touted like the employment of High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters. While true that HEPA filters can capture particulate sizes down to 0.3 microns, some bacteria with sizes larger than 0.3 microns are able to be captured by the filter, however viruses, nanobacteria, mycoplasmas and more go sailing right through them like water through cheese cloth. Although HEPA filters are somewhat effective in reducing airborne bacteria, theyare completely ineffective at removing viruses, which are nanometers (10-9 m) in size. Also, in order for air to be filtered or cleaned it must pass through the filter itself. This means that HEPA filters can only filter the air that is close to the return vent of the filter itself. There a multiple flaws in attempting to use HEPA filters for virus elimination and containment principally the tiny size of tviruses themselves and the inefficiencies inherent in HVAC design.These multiple drawbacks make HEPA filters unreliable for removal and disinfection of SARS coronavirus contaminated areas.

Chemical disinfectants can also be used for air and surface disinfection, and are typically fogged, sprayed or wiped onto surfaces. However, these chemical disinfectants pose just as many challenges. In order for most of them to work or to be effective at killing or disinfection they must leave the surfaces wet for up to ten minutes. This is impracticle and is rarely done, infact if it were done the water left behind after the active killing is accomplished becomes potential microbial food if the products are indeed biodegradable. If the products are not biodegradable they are often difficult to degrade or break down, and this results toxic chemical residues being left behind and pose additional risks as they remain hazardous to human health.

In 2002 Scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory were tasked with developing a protocol for disinfecting aerosolized microbial contamination, specifically anthrax spores. They discovered that there was no one step panacea, but that using the above traditional approaches also left behind contaminated structures due to the hidden three dimensional interfaces that exist in all buildings where the viruses bacteria and spores can hide. Instead the researches put forth the hypotheses that the only way to truly decontaminate a building was to fill it full of ozone gas in what is known as a high concentration ozone shock treatment. Ozone is a well-documented method to kill microorganisms effectively because it is a potent oxidizer. Ozone is widely used to sanitize water and is used in modern wastewater treatment plants and in cities all around the world. Recent studies demonstrate that using ozone to disinfect indicate in experimental results (2,3) that ozone can be as effective in disinfecting air as it is in water. For example, Kowalski et al (2) investigated the bactericidal effects of high ozone concentrations on E. coli and S. aureus and concluded that more than 99.99% death rate was achieved for both species after ozonation.

In addition to it’s immense killing power, it kills germs more than 3,125x faster than chlorine bleach, ozone’s gaseous nature makes it an ideal airborne sanitizer. In fact it was entered into the Federal Register in 2001 as a USDA Organic Label Program approved sanitizer in both it’s aqueous and gaseous forms. As opposed to the limitations UV radiation and HEPA filters which are proven to be ineffective, ozone as a gas is easily able to penetrate into to every nook cranny crevice and hidden cul de sac in the structure, easily sanitizing the entire room effectively. Ozone is unstable, and has an extremely short half life, therefore when the ozone generator is turned off within minutes it is readily converted back to normal oxygen, leaving behind no harmful residues after sanitization is complete.

Ozone has not only been proven to be effective in the laboratory setting it is also has been used effectively in a multitude of real world settings to both sanitize the air and surfaces. Here, we share the efficacy of ozone treatment for SARS type corona virus, the effectiveness of ozone in disinfection of a conference room.

Procedure for air disinfection using ozone

In order to test for the effectiveness of ozone in reducing airborne bacteria, a conference room with area about 12m2 was selected for testing. As high levels of ozone are required to kill viruses, bacteria and mold spores, the disinfection process was carried out in an unoccupied space, after people, plants and pets were removed.

In order to reach shock treatment levels a high output ozone generator is needed like the Bioblaster, from www.bestozonegenerator.com The capacity of the chosen ozone generator must have the capacity to generate high ozone levels of at least (2.5 – 5 ppm) inside the treatment area. Depending on the model use circulation fan may need to be placed in the room to ensure through distribution of ozone. After closing all the windows and doors, the ozone generator was turned on with a remote control located outside of the treatment area before beginning the ozonation. Concentration of ozone was monitored using a digital ozone meter (Ecosensor). Different levels of ozone (0.5, 2.5 and 5 ppm) were tested to determine the optimal value for killing as much microorganisms as possible. After turning off the ozone generator, ozone level began to drop as it degraded to normal oxygen.For safety reasons, no people should enter the room until the level of residual ozone is below 0.02 ppm. In general, ozone concentration drops to below 0.02 ppm in an hour after ozonation, therefore people should wait for at least one – two hours (after turning off the generator) before entering the “shock ozone treated” room.

Table 1. Reduction of Airborne Bacteria after Ozonation

Unlike laboratory experiments conducted by Kowalski et al (1) that removed 99.99% airborne bacteria after high ozone shock treatment, in this experiment the best reduction percentage in our case was around 93% only. The reason for this is thought to be because the conference room was not 100% sealed and the HVAC system introduced new bacteria laden air via the make up air intake on the system. Also doors were opened briefly during each air sampling (for placing a new agar dish on the sampler) and the aforementioned air exchange from outside was unavoidable.

Conclusion

Experimental data shows that ozone is effective in reducing airborne bacteria of unoccupied room. Over 90% of airborne bacteria in this real world experiment were reduced after ozone shock treatments. Viruses are more susceptible to ozone than bacteria because bacteria are protected by a cell wall. Ozone has been demonstrated to easily damage the protein lipid coating on the surface of the virus and it damages the RNA replication mechanism of all viruses. This means it is ideal for the destruction Ozone is a gas, and as a gas can permeate the tiniest hidden place in a room or facility, and with powerful oxidizing power, its disinfection efficiency is superior to UV radiation and unlike HEPA filters it actually works! Since ozone shock treatments are performed in unoccupied rooms only and all the residual ozone breaks down naturally after the treatment, so it is perfectly safe for humans. With the tremendous oxidization power and it’s penetration capacity leaving behind residues after the treatment, ozone is recommended for use in disinfection of SARS-contaminated environments.

References

1. Gérard V. Sunnen, SARS and Ozone Therapy: Theoretical Considerations, http://www.triroc.com/sunnen/topics/sars.html (2003).
2. W. J. Kowalski, W. P. Bahnfleth, and T. S. Whittam, Ozone Sci. & Eng., 20, 205-221 (1998).
3. T. Masaoka; Y. Kubota, S. Namiuchi, T. Takubo, T. Ueda, H. Shibata, H. Nakamura, J. Yoshitake, T. Yamayoshi, H. Doi, T. Kamiki, Appl. & Environ. Microb., 43, 509-513 (1982).
4.Development of a Practical Method for Using Ozone Gas as a Virus Decontaminating Agent: James B. Hudson , Manju Sharma & Selvarani Vimalanathan (2009)
5. Ozone Disinfection of SARS-Contaiminated Areas Kenneth K. K. LAM

Here’s what some experts say about Ozone!

“The trouble is that one soon gets used to bad air, and bad odors are not apt to be noticed after awhile; but the fact remains that pure air is more wholesome than contaminated air. In our regular daily life, it is almost an impossibility to provide for fresh air. No amount of ventilation, not even an unbearable draft, will be capable of keeping a room or a place in good condition, unless one takes recourse in ventilating with ozonized air. Removal of bad odors by means of air flushing is an absolute impossibility, and yet they should be removed. That is where ozone comes in. The method of purifying the air by ozone has the advantage of being fully reliable, very efficient and inexpensive.”

Authority: A. Vosmaer, Ph.D.,
London, England Electrical and Chemical Engineer In
“Ozone, its Manufacture, Properties and Uses”

“Ozone destroys virtually all odors that are present. It does not merely mask them. The destruction of odors is impossible when air is circulated only, or when oxygen is used. This fact has been proven in cold storage warehouses, where all kinds and any food products are stored. Odors are not present regardless how strong they might be, or where they may originate, if only low concentrations of Ozone is used.”

– E. W. Reisbeck. M. E.,
Ozone Research Authority,
In “Air Conditioning and Ozone Facts”

“As a deodorant for odors and stenches of organic origin, ozone has long proven effective and we can only confirm this general opinion.”

– Dr. Philip Drinker,
School of Public Health, Harvard University

“Ozone destroys organic odors. Ozone is a deodorizer of powerful stenches, such as from garbage incineration and fat rendering. When the odors from chimneys cause public nuisance, Ozone has big commercial usefulness.”

– Milton J. Rosenaw, MD,
In “Preventive Medicine and Hygiene”

“The effect of Ozone was thought in the past to be a masking action, but more recently the tendency is to hold that it is purely an oxidizing process. Most odors encountered in ventilation problems result from hydrocarbon compounds suspended in the atmosphere in minute quantities as the result of human or animal respiration and from various organic processes. These hydrocarbons are immediately oxidized upon coming in contact with ozone, the resulting products being water and carbon dioxide, both odorless. This process is effective in completely removing the scent of odors, if the reaction is complete, which requires that the Ozone be in such a manner as to insure its even distribution throughout the air.

– Editorial In “Heating and Ventilation Magazine”

“…In sales, cooler, fresh and sweet air at times would be a distinct selling advantage. OZONE seems to offer this solution, in the meat packing plant. In fact, it is being widely used in cold storage plants to correct the very situation objectionable in the meat packing plant.”

– In “Refrigeration and Air Conditioning”

“Unpleasant odors are not masked or covered up, but are literally destroyed. The results in an ordinary room are almost immediate. Where clean, fresh air is desirable, this machine has a definite contribution to make to the Medical World.”

– George A. Johnstone, MD,
Medical Director of Behrens Memorial Hospital Glendale, California

“When Ozone comes in contact with dead organic matter, oxidation immediately takes place with destruction of the organic matter. In this, it is powerful in removing odors.”

– Dr. J. C. Olson