Third-Party Test Lab Proves UV Light, Activated Carbon Media
and PCO Processes "Highly Effective" for IAQ
Dublin-based Airmid Healthgroup, tests IAQ industry's first air purifier to combine UV/activated carbon
media/photocatalytic oxidation for both microbial and VOC removal.
For Immediate Release
Monday, January 28, 2013
DUBLIN, Ireland--Airmid Healthgroup (AHG), a third-party indoor air cleaning device
test facility, has announced the successful laboratory test results of a new combination ultraviolet (UV-C) light, activated carbon media air purification and photocatalytic oxidation (PCO)
device, the APCO® air purifier manufactured by Fresh-Aire UV®, Jupiter, Fla.
The Dublin, Ireland-based AHG, a renowned international leader of indoor air quality
(IAQ) equipment testing, successfully demonstrated the APCO's capability to both sterilize
microorganisms and reduce volatile organic compounds (VOCs). AHG reported the APCO's
UV light was "highly effective" at inactivating microbes, and that its titanium-dioxide infused
carbon media matrix and PCO combination was "capable of reducing high concentrations" of
VOCs commonly found in residences and commercial buildings such as hospitals, hotels,
offices and schools.
The UV-C light portion of the study simulated airstream microbe inactivation in an
ASTM/AHAM style environmental test chamber simulating a typical building's indoor
environment and HVAC air handler arrangement. A single pass test was also performed on an
ASHRAE Standard 52.2 test duct system.
Triatomic Environmental, Inc. – 1601 Park Lane South - Jupiter, FL 33458
Phone: (561) 748-4864 - (800) 741-1195 - Fax: (561) 748-4865
Internet: www.freshaireuv.com e-mail: sales@freshaireuv.com
The test's UV-C light single-pass inactivation results were: Bacteria (S.epidermidis)-98.85-percent; Virus (MS2 coliphage)--99.03-percent; and Mold (A.niger)--78.80-percent.
The test, which simulated the typical indoor HVAC conditions of 73°F (23°C), 55percent relative humidity and airflow velocity of 492-fpm (0.93m3/sec), was performed on a
single pass. IAQ experts claim even higher inactivity rates among the three tested microbes
could occur in a multiple pass environment, such as a typical building HVAC recirculation unit
with an APCO device.
Additional multiple passes of the air contaminants through the APCO product will
further decrease the total concentration (mg/m3 or ppmv) of the air contaminants in the test
chamber or indoor space, according to Dean T. Tompkins, Ph.D, P.E., a Milwaukee, Wis.based IAQ consultant who reviewed the AHG test results. "For practical reasons,
demonstration test data assessing the performance of the APCO were based on experiments
performed for a finite period of time. When operating in a building's HVAC system with no
finite time period of concern, additional air passes through the APCO will result in contaminant
concentrations below those achieved at the end of AHG's experimental test period," said
Tompkins, the former chairman of ASHRAE Technical Committee 2.3--"Gas Phase
Contaminants and Removal Equipment" and a 15-year research scientist in the
Environmental Chemistry and Technology Program of University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis.
Commercial and residential APCO models are designed to sterilize and inactivate
mold, fungi, viruses and other microorganisms in the airstream and on internal surfaces of
HVAC air handlers. Meanwhile the activated carbon media matrix element adsorbs airborne
Triatomic Environmental, Inc. – 1601 Park Lane South - Jupiter, FL 33458
Phone: (561) 748-4864 - (800) 741-1195 - Fax: (561) 748-4865
Internet: www.freshaireuv.com e-mail: sales@freshaireuv.com
VOCs, such as cleaning agents, off-gassing from interior furnishings materials and other
gaseous contaminants. The UV-C light performs a second duty because its close positioning
to the activated carbon media creates a PCO process that chemically transforms the captured
gaseous contaminants to harmless carbon dioxide (CO2) and water vapor (H2O) molecules.
In addition to UV light disinfection, VOC removal capabilities using the APCO's
activated carbon media and PCO functions were also tested. According to AHG authorities,
the APCO is "capable of reducing very high concentrations of formaldehyde and
acetaldehyde." This is in light of the fact the test used a limited residence time combined with
100 times normal gas contaminant concentration exposures found in typical commercial
building environments. Multiple passes typical of a re-circulating HVAC system will also
reduce gaseous contaminants further, according to Tompkins.
For more information on Fresh-Aire UV and its full line of UV, APCO and other IAQ
products, please visit www.freshaireuv.com, call 1-(800) 741-1195 or email:
sales@freshaireuv.com.
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About Fresh-Aire UV®: Fresh-Aire UV® is a division of Triatomic Environmental Inc.,
Jupiter, Fla., a leading manufacturer and developer of germicidal UV light systems designed
for commercial/industrial and residential HVAC systems and ice machines. Among their
products is the patented Blue-Tube UV®, the first 24 volt low-voltage germicidal UV light for
HVAC, which has become the most popular product of its type in the world. Fresh-Aire UV's
revolutionary APCO® (advanced photocatalytic oxidation) system, which combines UV-C light
with activated carbon cells for comprehensive odor, VOC and microbial control, was an
international Innovation Award winner at the 2011 AHR Expo. Fresh-Aire UV® systems are
sold through wholesale HVAC/R distributors, specified by consulting engineers and
installed/serviced by air conditioning contractors. Fresh-Aire UV® continually strives to
engineer, develop and market products to meet the demand for a greener world and healthier
environment. The UV products improve air quality, enhance the efficiency of HVAC/R systems
Triatomic Environmental, Inc. – 1601 Park Lane South - Jupiter, FL 33458
Phone: (561) 748-4864 - (800) 741-1195 - Fax: (561) 748-4865
Internet: www.freshaireuv.com e-mail: sales@freshaireuv.com
and reduce maintenance costs. For more information please visit www.freshaireuv.com, call
1-(800) 741-1195 or email: sales@freshaireuv.com.
About Airmid Health Group: AHG is a world leading environmental contract research
& product development company, focusing on all aspects of health indoors. International
Standards Organization accredited (ISO 17025), AHG has the capacity to assess products
and services both in homes and at its vertically integrated Dublin facility. With core expertise
in the area of preventing ill health due to indoor air pollutants, AHG scientists apply their skills
to mimic environmental conditions that air cleaning devices would be challenged with, as they
provide complete solutions and research advice for healthy living and label claim validation.
Using state-of-the-art sampling and analysis methodologies, such as molecular biology, AHG
specializes in measuring surface and airborne bacteria, molds, viruses, allergens, other toxic
ultrafine particles. For more information please visit www.airmidhealthgroup.com or contact
Fraser Hodgson at fhodgson@airmidhealthgroup.com.
Triatomic Environmental, Inc. – 1601 Park Lane South - Jupiter, FL 33458
Phone: (561) 748-4864 - (800) 741-1195 - Fax: (561) 748-4865
Internet: www.freshaireuv.com e-mail: sales@freshaireuv.com