New research from the University of East Anglia claims that air filtration systems do not reduce the risk of contracting viral illnesses. It demonstrates that, in practise, technologies intended to increase the safety of social interactions in indoor environments are useless.
The group looked into ionisers, germicidal lamps, and air filtering systems. Despite examining all the data, they could not find much to bolster the optimism that these technologies will protect the air from gastrointestinal or respiratory illnesses.
From UEA’s Norwich Medical School, Prof Paul Hunter said, “Air cleaners are designed to filter pollutants or contaminants out of the air that passes through them. When Covid pandemic hit, many large companies and governments investigated installing this type of technology in a bid to reduce airborne virus particles in buildings and small spaces."
He added, “But air treatment technologies can be expensive. So it's reasonable to weigh up the benefits against costs and to understand the current capabilities of such technologies.” The research team studied evidence about whether air cleaning technologies make people safe from catching airborne respiratory or gastrointestinal infections.
Lead researcher Dr. Julii Brainard said, “The kinds of technologies that we considered included filtration, germicidal lights, ionisers and any other way of safely removing viruses or deactivating them in breathable air. In short, we found no strong evidence that air treatment technologies are likely to protect people in real-world settings.”
