Author: Georgina Williams-Hodgson

Not just another air purifier

Not just another air purifier

When it comes to your health, precision is a must. There are air cleaning solutions out there that promise that their UV products will eradicate harmful viruses and bacteria, https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200327-can-you-kill-coronavirus-with-uv-light“>especially coronavirus. Unfortunately, in the entirety of the market research we have conducted, the machines currently available are simply unable to substantiate their claims of ‘killing’ the virus effectively.

For instance, experts in Germany recently stated that apparatus that rely on UV light or ionisation are ineffective against coronavirus, and in some cases, even worsen the air quality. However, the tested units were faulty because they used UVA or UVB light, which lacks the potency of UVC. Alternatively, they were utilising UVC incorrectly, as the units lacked the capacity. Equally, machines that use ionisation produce ozone, which is damaging to human health.

So what sets Rejuvenair apart? Below, we detail the key features.

Expertise

Before setting out why Rejuvenair is a market leader, it’s important to lay some conceptual foundations. UVC air purification, or ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI), uses short-wavelength ultraviolet (UVC) light to kill microorganisms by destroying nucleic acids and disrupting their DNA. This renders them unable to perform vital cellular functions.

When air is treated with UVC light, harmful bacteria are literally torn apart, preventing them from spreading. However, unlike bacteria, viruses are not living organisms, so it’s technically incorrect to talk about ‘killing’ them. The term used is ‘inactivate’, which means they cannot reproduce. Regular air purifiers are not capable of inactivating viruses, which is what makes UVC such compelling technology.

Efficacy

Rejuvenair units are fitted with only the UVC technology worldwide that has been clinically validated and endorsed by <a href=”https://industryinsights.ips.uk.net/products/high-intensity-germicidal-uvc:”>The Infection Prevention Society.</a> Manufactured by Steril-Aire, these lamps are imported to the UK under a sole license by E-Co, our supplier. We have designed the light chamber in association with E-Co to ensure that the Steril-Aire UVC light is being used effectively and safely.

These Steril-Aire UVC lamps inactivate 99.95% of viruses and bacteria. This isn’t a number that’s been pulled out of thin air: the figure is what is known as a 4-log reduction in contamination. Log reduction is a measure of how thoroughly a decontamination process reduces the concentration of a contaminant by a factor of 10. So for example, a 0-log reduction is no reduction at all, a 1-log reduction is a reduction of 90%, a 2-log reduction is a reduction of 99%, and so on.

Contamination reduction by 4-log, or 99.95%, is accepted by the NHS as clinically safe. The design of the light chamber in our unit ensures 4-log decontamination of any active virus in a single pass. In a 60m2 room, the unit will process all of the air in 15 minutes. In that time period, all the air in the room has had a single pass and 99.95% of the active virus in the air will be inactivated.

Capacity

There are certainly cheaper and more expensive air cleaning machines out there that promise to eradicate coronavirus, however, due to their size and exposure periods, they simply don’t have the capacity to work effectively. In contrast, Rejuvenair’s substantial units can perform four full passes of the air in a 60m2 space in an hour.

So, if there were 1,000,000 active viruses (or Colony Forming Units, CFU) in the room at the time the unit was first switched on, the inactivation process would be:

– First 15 minutes – 99.95% reduction, reduces from 1,000,000 CFU to no more than 100 CFU.

– Second 15 minutes – 99.95% reduction, reduces from 100 CFU to no more than 1 CFU, the lowest possible factor – virtually sterile after half an hour.

– Third 15 minutes – 99.95% reduction, maintaining space at 1 CFU.

– Fourth 15 minutes – 99.95% reduction, maintaining space at 1 CFU.

This assumes that the room is sealed, with no air coming in or out. Of course, the real world doesn’t work this way, so the system should run continuously whilst the room is occupied. Rejuvenair’s units are designed for heavy-duty use, so clients can be confident their machines will maintain peak performance.

Visibility

Rejuvenair units come with comprehensive monitoring facilities for both clients and users of the space. Each unit continuously monitors the air quality and notify management and employees if the results exceed specified thresholds. This gives clients complete visibility of unit operations, so they can effectively manage maintenance and instil confidence in building users.

Rejuvenair is fully future-ready. It can integrate with smart building technology and has the potential and functionality to merge it with tech innovations that are just on the horizon.

Choose Rejuvenair

When it comes to your health, there is no room to cut corners. In the wake of the global pandemic, this issue is more urgent than ever – and Rejuvenair is the only choice to help ensure full air safety.

The Nation’s Health Is Our Main Priority

The Nation’s Health Is Our Main Priority

If 2020-21 has told us anything, it’s that the air we breathe may not be as fresh as it seems. Airborne viruses, once the concern of virologists and immunologists, are at the forefront of everyone’s minds. There are several longitudinal studies underway at Imperial College London, looking into different aspects of COVID-19 and mental health. These and other studies are already identifying worrying trends.

A paper published in the BMJ in September 2020 concluded that “Increased psychological morbidity was evident in this UK sample and found to be more common in younger people, women and in individuals who identified as being in recognised COVID-19 risk groups.” 

As the leader of the University of Nottingham and King’s College study, Dr Kavita Vedhara, put it “The emotional toll early on in the pandemic appears to have been significant in the UK. This is perhaps not surprising as people were required to rapidly and unexpectedly respond to a range of challenges. What is crucial now is to examine if these very high levels of distress are persisting over time.”

The Air we Breathe

One source of significant anxiety is air quality, particularly for those who cannot avoid working indoors, including teachers, supermarket employees, key workers, and clerical staff unable to work from home. It is in the best interests of employers to do everything they can to reassure staff that their environments are as safe as possible as well as future-proofed, wherever possible, against further outbreaks.

Even where workplaces adhere to strict social distancing, hand hygiene and mask-wearing policies, it is often hard to maintain good air circulation. In the middle of winter, it is often impossible to leave windows and doors open. On the other hand, staff are aware that, rather than ensuring an even flow of fresh air, bad air conditioning merely circulates existing unclean air throughout the building.

As the World Health Organisation recently made clear “Ventilation is an important factor in preventing the virus that causes COVID-19 from spreading indoors.” The same guidance also instructs building managers to “Increase air filtration to as high as possible without significantly diminishing design airflow.” For this to work you need a high-performance system, such as that provided by Rejuvenair.

Rejuvenair is COVID-19 Safe

Rejuvenair’s state of the art air filtration uses NATO & MoD approved UVC lamps, shown to inactivate 99.9% of viruses and bacteria. Other systems often use UVA or UVB light which are less effective, or utilise Ozone ionisation, proven to be hazardous to human health

UVC lamps within air filtration systems have been FDA approved as the most probably efficacious. In their words “UVC radiation has been shown to destroy the outer protein coating of the SARS-Coronavirus” (an earlier variant of the virus). Studies of UVC upon SARS-CoV-2 specifically are ongoing but a recent report published in Nature claims that “As all human coronaviruses have similar genomic sizes, far-UVC light would be expected to show similar inactivation efficiency against other human coronaviruses including SARS-CoV-2.”

In short, the rule of thumb ‘better safe than sorry’ applies. There can be no harm in installing an air filtration system which is the likeliest to solve a problem that will be with us for some time to come.

Future-Proofing your Air Supply

Coronaviruses and other airborne pathogens will be an increasing problem as humans continue to move to larger and larger cities and live in close proximity to one another. It is vital that we take every precaution we can to ensure safe working spaces, to combat employee anxiety and provide both reassurance and a pleasant working environment. 

Contact Rejuvenair now to ask how we can help make your workplace a safe place.

Three Powerful Ways to Fortify Your Mental Health

Three Powerful Ways to Fortify Your Mental Health

As we all know, during the pandemic reports of increased anxiety and depression are all over the news, with some reporting a threefold increase in depression. It’s likely to be a long time before the full extent of the COVID-19 mental health crisis is known.

We’re all feeling the effects of uncertainty. But there are ways we can help keep our mental health in shape, even during this difficult time.

Exercise

For a lot of us, lockdown meant an exercise drought. Now that we’re a year into the pandemic we all need to get outside and move our bodies. Exercise helps tire your body to improve sleep and releases endorphins that improve your mood.

Going outside for a walk gives you exercise and relief from being isolated inside as well as the obvious draw of breathing in clean, fresh air. If you’re out of shape from quarantine, take it slow, but make a commitment to your fitness. Making a goal and taking physical steps to reach it helps us to feel a sense of achievement, a feeling that has evaded many of us over the past year.

Sleep

Getting adequate sleep rests both your body and mind. Your mind processes the activities and emotions of the day. During times of external stress, sleep allows you time to heal from painful emotional experiences.

Maximise your nightly rest by sticking to a bedtime routine, avoiding caffeine later in the day, and turning off electronics at least an hour before you go to bed.

Diet

Nutrition isn’t just about a healthy body; it’s also about a resilient mind. There have been studies linking the brain to the gut, showing us how important it is to eat well.

The best way for your diet to bolster your mental health is to fill it with fruits and vegetables, nuts and beans, and complex carbohydrates. These foods contain the vitamins and minerals linked to decreased anxiety and depression.

Reducing caffeine consumption, processed foods, and sugar intake can also help calm your anxious mind.

Your mind and body are powerfully linked. Take extra care of body basics to help fortify your mental health.