Clean air in laboratories is vital for staff safety and quality control

The reduction of airborne contaminants like bacteria and viruses is a vital concern for environmental control in laboratories and cleanrooms. While contaminants on surfaces can be reduced with surface cleaning and disinfection procedures, the air in a laboratory benefits from medical-grade air filtration of a wide variety of airborne pathogens and contaminants.

Important factors in air filtration for laboratories

Two key factors to consider in developing effective air cleaning for laboratories are the filtration efficiency for the relevant contaminants and the system airflow in relation to the room size. IQAir follows this two-step approach in selecting the right air cleaning system for a particular laboratory. First, IQAir determines whether the contaminants of concern are particulate, gaseous or both in nature. If gaseous pollutants need to be removed, IQAir selects the appropriate gas-phase removal media technology. Then IQAir determines how many times per hour the air cleaner is required to clean the air in the laboratory in order to produce the desired air quality improvement.

Medical laboratories in hospitals, clinics and other facilities choose IQAir for its advanced air cleaning expertise and superior filtration technologies. Throughout the world, IQAir is a leading supplier of compact air cleaning systems and HVAC system filter upgrades. IQAir’s Cleanroom Series of air purifiers were designed specifically for the needs of laboratories dealing with microorganisms. If gaseous pollutants are also of concern, the GCX Series offers targeted control for most laboratory applications.

Proven effective even for particles smaller than 0.3 microns

One important difference between IQAir and many other air cleaning systems is its proven filtration efficiency, both for particles as well as for gaseous pollutants. While standard HEPA filters are designed to stop particles only down to 0.3 microns in diameter, IQAir HyperHEPA filtration is proven to filter particles down to 0.003 microns, the smallest particles that exist. That is critical when you consider that most viruses, for example, are smaller than 0.3 microns in diameter.

That’s just one of the reasons why the Hong Kong Hospital Authority chose IQAir to help combat the spread of the deadly SARS virus in 2003 and during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in 2020. At a typical size of 0.08 microns, the SARS virus is well below the 0.3 micron and larger efficiency range at which other manufacturers test. But IQAir’s HyperHEPA filtration is highly effective against viruses like the SARS-CoV-2 virus responsible for COVID-19, filtering more than 99.5 percent of all particles down to 0.003 microns.