As many states gradually relax their COVID-19 shutdowns, many medical professionals are again beginning to accept patients. General practitioners, dentists, ENTs and other medical professionals not directly involved in hospital care have had a difficult time seeing patients as usual, and it’s more important than ever that they take steps to protect their patients, staff and themselves as their offices begin to reopen. In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the best air purifiers for medical offices and how using proper air purification technology can help to reduce the risk of COVID-19 spreading in a medical office setting.
Why Do You Need an Air Purifier for Your Medical Office?
Even without the concerns of COVID-19, it’s a good idea to use an air purifier in a medical office. From pollen carried in on the clothes of patients during allergy season to ordinary pathogens floating in the air, using a high-quality air purifier can remove a wide range of contaminants and keep you, your staff and your patients as healthy as possible.
These days, though, there’s obviously an extra reason to protect your office with air purification. Thanks to its highly infectious nature, COVID-19 can rapidly spread from patients to medical professionals. As a result, it’s crucial that medical offices, clinics and practices take every possible step to protect their staff and maintain a healthy environment for all patients.
It’s extremely important to note than an air purifier acts only as an additional layer of protection for yourself and your staff. In order to be picked up by an air purifier, the virus first has to be airborne. Although there is a lack of expert consensus on how widespread the virus is in an airborne form, a recent study from Wuhan indicates that it can build up in small spaces lacking proper ventilation. In addition to rigorous surface sanitation, proper use of PPE and other standard measures, using a good air purifier in your medical practice may help to reduce the risk of transmission to both patients and staff.
Picking Out the Right Air Purifiers
With COVID-19 running rampant, the market seems to be all but flooded with air purifiers originating from different countries all over the world. In selecting the right air purifier, we recommend choosing from time-tested brands that have proven their efficacy over many years. Choosing the right air purifier is extremely important, since it can make all the difference when it comes to properly protecting your offices.
What Are Some of the Best Air Purifiers for Medical Offices and Practices?
As you may already be aware, there are many different types of air purifiers, each of which can help to protect you and your staff in slightly different ways. Below, we’ll briefly review some of the leading air purifier technologies and give you our recommendations in each category.
HEPA Air Purifiers
HEPA purifiers use dense filter materials to effectively filter out tiny solid particles in the air. Although the standard for a true or medical grade HEPA filter requires filtration of 99.97 percent of particles larger than 0.3 microns in diameter, smaller particles, including many viruses, can be removed due to a diffusion phenomenon that causes them to become trapped within the filter medium.
If you’re looking for a good HEPA air purifier for your medical office, we recommend the Amaircare 3000 HEPA. This air purifier maintains a 99.96 percent efficiency rating for particles as small as 0.1 microns and features an extra-large HEPA bed, making it a good option for targeting extremely small particles. As of the time of this writing, the Amaircare 3000 HEPA is available on a 7-day lead time. Virtually all Amaircare products meet these same specifications, allowing you to choose from zero-pressure, HVAC units or smaller, more portable models like the 3000 HEPA based on the needs of your business.
To achieve dual protection with an Amaircare 3000, you may want to consider using an in-line Field Controls unit. This model provides UV protection in your ducting, adding an extra stage of protection to your office as a whole. Please get in touch with us for more information about in-line Field Controls solutions. As of the time of this writing, lead times for these systems are between 10 and 12 weeks.
UV Air Purifiers
Air purifiers with UV germicidal lamps use ultraviolet light frequencies to destroy the chemical bonds of the DNA in bacteria and viruses, thus neutralizing them as they pass through the body of the purifier. UV purifiers are often preferred for protection from biologicals and pathogens.
For UV units, we recommend the following models from our lineup of premium air purifiers:
- Airpura P614 or UV614 (6-9 weeks lead time)-Features large HEPA bed with UV. P-series also features PCO
- Field Controls TRIO medical grade air purifier (3-4 weeks lead time)-features PCO and UV technology
In order to achieve maximum efficacy, it’s important for a UV air purifier to feature a reasonably long dwell time and to emit UVC at a wavelength of ~265nm. For rooms and offices where people will be in close proximity to the air purifier, it’s also crucial to use a unit that produces no extra ozone. Titanium dioxide, usually abbreviated as TiO2, can also be used in conjunction with UV lamps to more effectively eliminate biologicals in the air.
Air Purifiers With Arms
If you want an air purifier with an adjustable arm to position near patients while working closely with them, we recommend the AllerAir Salon Pro 5 and Pro 6 models, as well as the Electrocorp Clean Breeze. Although these units are made for use in nail salons where workers deal with potentially harmful chemicals in close quarters, they can also be useful in similar situations when dealing with patients. Please note that air purification is not the same thing as medical suction, and these units will not suffice for suction purposes.
For the AllerAir units listed above, there are also several upgrades that can help make them more powerful. These include risers, upgraded motors, UV lamps, SuperHEPA filters and enlarged carbon beds to help with VOC filtration.
HVAC Air Purifiers
For larger spaces, it often pays to use an air purification unit tied directly into your HVAC system. If you’re interested in HVAC, ducted or negative pressure units, please reach out to discuss your needs further.
If you’re looking for air purifiers for medical office use as you reopen, US Air Purifiers has the units you need to help add an extra layer of protection for yourself and your employees. Feel free to contact us with any questions you may have, and we’ll be happy to help you select the right air purifier for your office or practice. Because of the wait times involved at this time, we’d also strongly encourage you to contact us for preorders. Money is taken at the time of preorder, allowing you to reserve your spot and get your air purifier on the best possible time table.