Infection prevention
Efficient reduction of bioaerosols in hospitals
There is an increasing focus on the need to address the infection risk posed by bioaerosols in healthcare settings. Sanathoi Bachaspatimayum looks at how hospitals can balance infection prevention and sustainability, using effective air filtration.
The NHS has been working to reduce carbon footprint since 20081
first Net Zero national health service.2
and aims to be the world’s In 2020,
the NHS set targets to reach Net Zero by 2040 for the emissions it directly controls, and for the emissions it can influence by 2045. It launched the Greener NHS programme to help achieve these targets.3 One of the most overlooked aspects of carbon emission and footprint is the role of indoor air quality (IAQ). Since the start of the pandemic, hospitals began increasing the use of mechanical ventilation to reduce the bioaerosol load. The impact of this action on Net Zero targets are considerable: l Mechanical ventilation in operating theatres account for 90–99% of hospitals’ energy consumption.4
l 84% of carbon emissions in UK hospital operating theatres come from energy usage.5
Increasing ventilation may lower infection rates by diluting the air, but it doesn’t remove particles from the air. By focusing on an effective air filtration system, hospitals can not only improve patient outcomes, but also reduce their carbon emission and footprint. This article aims to highlight that filtration with ventilation is a vital part of indoor air quality and can help balance infection rate and sustainability in hospitals.
Reducing bioaerosols Building guidelines in the UK are ventilation based, but it recognises that air changes can be supplemented by portable air cleaners. Filtration can be added to mechanical ventilation systems, but this usually requires remodelling and is often expensive. Portable air cleaners, offering localised filtration at HEPA H13 grade, can be
effective at removing bioaerosols at low cost. There have been a number of peer-reviewed studies looking at the efficiency of both ventilation and filtration at removing bioaerosols with the results lending credence to the significance of filtration in infection prevention and control: l Portable air cleaners were found to be 63% more effective at clearing aerosol particles than ventilation alone, due to ‘localised’ filtration.7
l Stantec, a global firm carried out air quality modelling research to identify the different ways to reduce aerosol particles. They tested 22 variations of ventilation adjustments (with and without portable air cleaners) to identify the different ways to reduce aerosol particles. Best case particle reduction results were:8
The integration of portable air cleaners in hospitals offers localised filtration and is the best solution for balancing infection control with sustainability.
l Up to 17% with ‘ventilation only’ adjustments.
l Up to 45% with ‘ventilation adjustments and portable air cleaners’.
Both studies show that the best way to reduce bioaerosol particles from the air is by combining ventilation with portable air cleaners.
Reducing carbon footprint Portable air cleaners are designed to offer localised filtration. They target specific areas by providing a more efficient and effective solution to remove bioaerosol particles from the air. They can be strategically placed in high-risk areas such as the operation theatres, intensive care units (ICUs), labs, isolation rooms and more. Portable air cleaners use substantially less energy than mechanical ventilation systems. By using an energy calculator, healthcare
facilities can choose the right model to reduce their carbon footprint while delivering high amounts of filtered air. Not all portable air cleaners are equal, a comparison between Smart Air’s Blast air cleaner and two other
October 2024 I
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