21/11/2024
How has the EOLIS Air Purifier’s effectiveness against coronaviruses been demonstrated?
Anaïs Guyomarch, NatéoSanté's Director of Operations and Research & Development, supervised the overall testing, which was entrusted to an independent reference level microbiology laboratory, of NatéoSanté’s professional air purifiers’ effectiveness. Explanations of the methodology used, and the scope of the results obtained against the Covid 19 virus were as follows.
https://youtu.be/zVq9Ugx6XXw Anaïs Guyomarc'h, Director of Operations, explains the test protocol and results
What were the test procedures followed to verify the professional air purifier’s effectiveness against coronaviruses?
An aerosol of droplets, contaminated with a known concentration of coronavirus, was generated inside an airtight enclosure for five minutes.
The EOLIS Air Manager air purifier was then switched on for 10 minutes at the low speed 2 setting.
It was equipped with a Perform+ filter block, consisting of the following components:
- A biocide pre-filter
- A high-density activated carbon filter
- A HEPA 13 filter certified to EN 1822
Perform + filter unit of the professional air purifier EOLIS Air Manager from NatéoSanté
After ten minutes of operation, an indoor air sample was taken.
Following an incubation period of seven days, the number of surviving viruses in this sample was determined.
A control test of the purifier without a filter was then compared to a test with a filter. Each test was repeated three times.
The conclusion, confirmed by the microbiology laboratory that carried out all the measurements, is that the EOLIS Air Manager has made it possible to eliminate 99.6% of the Coronaviruses present in the indoor air of an enclosed space within just ten minutes.
Do these tests prove the effectiveness of the EOLIS Manager air purifier against Covid 19?
The strain of coronavirus used during the tests is not the one responsible for COVID-19 for obvious handling and safety reasons. However, we chose to test the effectiveness of our solution on a very similar strain of human coronavirus that was discovered in the 1960s: strain 229E.
These two coronaviruses have a very similar physical structure and the same propagation mechanisms. The effectiveness demonstrated by these tests allows us to affirm today that our EOLIS Air Manager is effective in eliminating the coronavirus SARS-COV-2 or Covid 19 from the ambient air.
EOLIS Air Manager efficiency test protocol on coronaviruses
Injection of aerosols contaminated by the coronavirus into the enclosure
Switching on the EOLIS Air Manager equipped with a Perform+ filter at speed 2 for 10 minutes, then sampling
Why did you not also test the effectiveness of UV-C or active oxygen?
We had planned to test several configurations, in line with the capabilities of the EOLIS Air Manager, but the results obtained solely with the Perform + filtration were already excellent under the experimental conditions.
The protocol used would not have made it possible to meaningfully quantify the additional effect of UV-C.
As for active oxygen, we performed an experiment! Unexpectedly, active oxygen seems to be so effective that it also destroys any virus remaining inside the aerosolisation container. However, the protocol is based on a comparison of what remains between each test. Therefore, it was impossible to scientifically conclude that the airborne virus would be eliminated using this functionality.
Are these results representative of real-world EOLIS Air Manager professional air purifiers’ conditions of use?
The experiment was carried out inside an enclosed space managed by an independent reference level laboratory specialising in microbiology. The coronavirus was nebulised to artificially reproduce the way it is projected into the air, in aerosol form, by an infected patient. This is representative of the probable real-world viral contamination of the human respiratory tract.
These tests show 99.6% efficacy within just 10 minutes and at a low operational speed. Our EOLIS Air Manager purifiers are usually in operation 24 hours a day. Additionally, they offer the benefits of EN 1822 certified HEPA H13 filtration, UV-C lamps and the active oxygen function.
Read the test report
It is important to remember that they also ensure safety. They are the only air purifiers to be verified in this manner within the framework of the European Commission’s ETV (Environmental Technology Verification) programme.
The results allow us to confirm the effectiveness of our technologies in reducing the airborne coronavirus viral load. These can be extrapolated to real-world use under the recommended conditions of use.
