COVID-19, Indoor Air Quality and Holiday Celebrations: Recommendations to Keep Your Family and Friends Healthy
With the holiday season in full swing, many of us are finalizing plans between now and the New Year. While the most wonderful time of the year looks a little different in 2020, we still want to spend time and make memories with family and friends. So, suppose your holiday plans involve travel. In that case, you’ll want to heed the advice of medical experts: wear a face-covering where mandated, wash your hands often and practice physical distancing in crowded areas.
Though these are all essential measures to follow to mitigate the risk of contracting or spreading SARS-COVID-2 (or COVID-19), another consideration is how Indoor Air Quality impacts the spaces you travel to, through and from. Whether you’re traveling by car and need to stop for a meal, or you’re navigating bustling airports or rail stations, the quality of the indoor air that you, and those around you, breathe has direct impacts on your overall health.
As an expert in Indoor Air Quality, here are a few key considerations in terms of how your indoor air quality can impact health and help holiday travelers safely get from Point A to Point B.
What is Indoor Air Quality? And how does it impact building occupants?
Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) is an evaluation of the air’s cleanliness in an indoor environment. Good IAQ emphasizes the importance of healthy air achieved by actively neutralizing harmful pollutants that might be present in indoor facilities. These pollutants may include bacteria, viruses, mold spores, toxic chemicals and undesirable odors which can aggravate allergies, trigger respiratory complications, or spread infections. Generally speaking, improving your IAQ provides occupants with safe, clean indoor air.
While air treatment systems should not be considered personal medical devices, clean air in your home or office does reduce the risk of health hazards by controlling biological, physical and chemical contaminants. Whether it’s Bob from Accounting sneezing near your desk, or the dog shaking off on the couch, you, your family and your colleagues will benefit from active air treatment systems.
How does air circulation in today’s modern buildings contribute to improved Indoor Air Quality?
One of the often-discussed considerations about COVID-19 is the virus particle size — one micron or less. Recent research has shown definitively that the larger droplets fall (rather than hover) right out of the air. These large droplets quickly land on surfaces that can be sanitized.
Unfortunately, smaller COVID-19 particles can remain suspended in the air for more extended periods. It is these smaller, aerosolized particles that stay suspended in the air for longer periods and distances, posing a particular risk to people. With this updated understanding, the FDA and CDC have recommended increased air circulation to interrupt the suspension and reduce exposure to these aerosolized particles.
These recommendations around increased air circulation, while seemingly simple, are not always practical or possible to achieve. Today’s modern buildings are designed to be “airtight,” which purposefully limits outdoor air infiltration into the building. Paired with HVAC systems designed to reduce the mixing of outside air to improve energy efficiency, we can see how increasing airflow becomes a challenge. To address the CDC / FDA recommendations, contractors are increasing the ratio of outdoor air mixing with recirculated indoor air by ramping up HVAC systems’ velocity, which then puts pressure on the entire system. An alternate approach that better protects the HVAC system’s lifespan would be to include an air treatment system in every building — an aspirational and achievable goal.
Can’t we just increase physical distancing protect against aerosolized particles?
In a recent study published in the Journal of Korean Medical Science, researchers documented an infection from person to person in a restaurant at a distance of 21 feet apart in a five-minute exposure window[1]. These results are a testament to the duration of time that these tiny particles remain suspended. The author’s conclusion is that “updated guidelines involving prevention, contact tracing, and quarantine for COVID-19 are required for control of this highly contagious disease.” My takeaway is that, given these findings, although physical distancing remains important, we are not really sure just how far apart we need to stay to truly remain safe (six feet? ten feet? more?). That means that an active air treatment system, coupled with distancing, is key to promoting safer indoor environments.
What steps can we take to keep ourselves and our family safe and healthy?
For gatherings at home, installing an air treatment solution such as RGF® Environmental Group’s REME HALO® in the home’s HVAC system can promote a healthy environment for years to come. The REME HALO significantly reduces the risk of transmission of airborne viruses or bacteria, including COVID-19, by actively treating the air and neutralizing bacteria and airborne threats within the air-conditioned living space. The installation needs to be completed by a licensed contractor, but as demonstrated in dozens of social media videos found online, the process is quick and instantly effective.
What about improving the air quality for those in assisted living facilities and nursing homes?
Though my parents are no longer with us, they spent several of their golden years in an assisted living facility where they shared a room. They both lived to be 90 years old and maintained good health right up to the end of their lives. I installed REME HALOs in their room and believe that those air treatment solutions meaningfully contributed to their health and quality of life relative to many of their neighbors.
And what about my family? How do we promote healthy Indoor Air Quality?
I have air treatment solutions installed throughout my home and have for the last 15+ years. I’ve also made sure that all of my children and other family members have air treatment solutions in their homes. When one of my daughters recently had to replace her HVAC system, I insisted that she install a REME HALO with the new system. She followed dad’s advice and has suffered fewer sniffles since.
My son and his wife have three beautiful children. Before installing REME HALOs, the family seemed to share colds, infections and various “bugs” constantly. Now, post-installation, the REME HALO has had a notable impact on everybody’s health — mom, dad and the kids have all experienced less downtime because of feeling crummy.
So, I guess you could say that in these instances, a father really does know best.
My earnest advice for staying healthy during the holidays and into 2021
Any space that can be air-conditioned can benefit from the installation of an air treatment system like RGF® Environmental Group’s REME HALO®. No matter how small or how large, RGF has air treatment systems specifically designed for all indoor spaces, including residential environments, commercial retail or office spaces, and even commercial units integrated into large rooftop units. If a room can be air-conditioned, it can be leveraged to promote healthy Indoor Air Quality using RGF air treatment technologies.
1 Kwon K-S, Park J-I, Park YJ, Jung D-M, Ryu K-W, Lee J-H. Evidence of long-distance droplet transmission of sars-cov-2 by direct air flow in a restaurant in korea. J Korean Med Sci. 2020;35(46):e415.
