- EcoAir AVS inactivates viral particles using heat
- Traditional purifiers capture, rather than inactivate, harmful microbes
- EcoAir’s claims have been independently verified by a scientific research company
We’re all familiar with air purifiers, but air treatment device brand EcoAir has apparently gone one better by launching what it claims to be the world’s first air sterilizer. The EcoAir Anti-Covid AVS can apparently eliminate viruses and bacteria – including colds, flu and (you guessed it) Covid – from the air.
Today’s best air purifiers can only capture virus particles, not inactivate them. Is this new approach your new best defense against seasonal insects? I reached out to Noel Fok, co-founder and CEO of EcoAir, to find out exactly how it works.
“A virus is not a living organism, so it cannot be killed. However, it can be inactivated or destroyed by exposure to heat,” explains Fok. “The EcoAir AVS air sterilizer eliminates 99.9% of viruses by removing them from the air, passing them through Thermo- Clean, which reaches a core temperature above 99.9%. 200C [392F]inactivating harmful microbes.
He adds: “AVS will kill bacteria because it is a living organism, through the same exposure to Thermo-Clean technology. In both cases, harmful microbes are disintegrated by heat and are not released into the air.
These claims have been independently tested and verified by MRIGlobal – a research organization focused on health and safety innovations.
Also worth noting is how quickly this “air sterilizer” works. It can eliminate airborne viruses and bacteria in a single pass, almost instantly, in just 0.01 seconds. MRIGlobal laboratory tests revealed that the EcoAir AVS could inactivate 99.9% of viruses in a 30 m³ room in 90 minutes.
The future of air purifiers?
I also asked Fok to explain more about the benefits of the EcoAir AVS over a regular air purifier. “Traditional air purifiers capture microbes and store them through the use of HEPA filters, which must be changed, which incurs additional expense,” he told me. “Inactivating the virus destroys it, which means it cannot infect a living organism and become active, thereby causing disease.”
The EcoAir AVS does have a filter, but it is reusable and does not need to be changed regularly. The nano-silver filter should be washed every two weeks and EcoAir suggests replacing it annually.
There are also other existing methods for destroying viruses and bacteria, although they are significantly slower than EcoAir AVS’s 0.01 second process. ION systems take about 30 seconds and UV-C, nine seconds, for example.
Although the practical results of this device are similar to those of a good air purifier, Fok’s claims that the AVS represents “a huge step forward, not only for EcoAir but for the industry as a whole” could prove to be accurate. The new process certainly seems more thorough and effective, and it’s also not much more expensive than a good air purifier – the EcoAir Anti-Covid AVS is currently available for purchase on the company’s website. EcoAir, priced £349.98 (it is currently not commercially available). US or Australia, but that works out to around $430 / AU$700). Could this be the new technology that changes the way we purify the air?
