How Needlepoint Bipolar Ionization Can Improve Your Indoor Air Quality
Today more than ever, people become aware that indoor air quality is important. Taking actions to improve and maintain good indoor air quality can lead to:
* Harvard study shows indoor air quality increases workplace productivity. Ref: Article
So now lets talk about needlepoint bi-polar ionization, that according to Business Insider Magazine:
So how does it work?
Bipolar ions created by our unique air purification systems seek out atoms and molecules in the air and effectively neutralize particles containing bacteria, odors, and VOCs .
As shown in the above 3D model video, its very easy for air-born particles to move throughout your home or office. To protect you against this, the bipolar ions emitted by our systems, being negatively or positively charged, attract these particles into clusters, making them too heavy to float around, allowing them to fall from the common breathing areas.
While filters catch a lot of the particles, many particles are too small and still make it through. The larger clusters created by bipolar ions now allow filters to do their job by catching up to 99% of all harmful particles.
To help you see a better visual representation of this, weve cued up our video to show you how our bipolar ionization system:
And when we say they are affordable we mean anywhere from below $1,000 up to $2,400 for our largest units.
Does An Ionizer Produce Ozone
A little quantity is permitted, but its not hazardous to your body. No further ventilation is needed since the ozone value of an air purifier with ionizers is 0.01 ppm.
However, ionizer air purifiers arent for everyone since the ozone they produce might irritate asthmatics airways. Bipolar ionization doesnt have to worry about this issue since they dont produce ozone.
The History Of Bipolar Ionization
Bipolar ionization has long been popular across much of Europe but struggled to find a foothold in America initially. According to Business Insider, bipolar ionization first arrived in the U.S. in the 1970s as a tool to control pathogens in food manufacturing. It was effective during the SARS outbreak of 2004, as well as more recent outbreaks of MERS, norovirus, and various strains of influenza.
More recent advances have made the units significantly cheaper and easier to install, and so many companies are now scrambling to test the technology against the novel coronavirus in their own facilities.
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Do Ionizer Air Purifiers Remove Viruses Including The Covid
Studies have found negatively charging air ions to be an effective way of removing particulate matter from the air. This was found when researching other devices that happened to emit ions , which were found to produce ions and inactivated viruses, including influenza.
Negative ion emitting devices saw an uptick during the SARS epidemic. Regular products like toothbrushes and refrigerators contain negative ion generators, and consumers were encouraged to buy them. Manufacturers of air purifier devices suggest that ionization can reduce SARS-2-CoV, the virus that causes the COVID-19 disease in circulating air. However, the EPA has not stated this methodology is proven nor an effective technology for removing the SARS-2-CoV.
The EPA still considers bipolar ionization to be a new technology. It is often recommended to only consider air purification technologies substantiated by extensive clinical third-party, FDA-compliant, and real-world testing.
Bipolar Ionization Ionizes Molecules By Electrical Discharges
The process of air ionization uses electric currents to convert neutral atoms in the air into charged atoms that interact with the environment to increase indoor air quality.
Global Plasma Solution is a top accredited company that manufactures a patented NPBI technology.
This technology creates a plasma or electromagnetic field with a high concentration of both positively and negatively charged ions using an electronic charge.
Global Plasma Solutions has spent the last 15 years developing their NPBI technology to achieve high levels of indoor bipolar air ionization without generating harmful byproducts like ozone.
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What Are The Benefits Of Breathing Healthy Air And What Are Everyday Things That People Can Do To Breathe The Fullness Of Life
Clean air is essential for healthy lungs. The American Lung Association works to ensure that the air we breathe is clean and safe from harmful pollution. In fact, every year we publish our State of the Air Report, which looks at two of the most widespread and dangerous air pollutants, ozone and fine particulate matter. Our 2021 State of the Air Report found that more than 4 in 10 Americansover 135 million peopleare living in places with unhealthy levels of ozone or particle pollution.
One of the most important things you can do to Breathe the Fullness of Life is to keep sources of pollution out of your home. Check out these commonsense tips on Lung.org. Additionally, ventilation helps reduce indoor air pollution, but it works best if paired with keeping known sources of air pollution out of the building. For tips on how to use ventilation to protect your lung health, check out our section on Ventilation: How Buildings Breathe.
Efficiency Of An Ionization Method Can Be Checked By Fast Gc
Gas chromatography is a commonly used analysis.
It helps to classify and measure the materials that make up a sample or discover pollutants that affect product quality.
How does it work?
The gases about to be tested are passed through a column that has been covered with a special coating.
This coating attracts the various components of the sample to different degrees, and their levels are tested and transmitted for interpretation.
Gas chromatography is a great analysis for quality control and troubleshooting and has a wide range of applications.
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How Do Bipolar Ionization Air Purifiers Work
The functionality of a bipolar air purifier is not too different than what will be found with any ionic air purifier. The purifier releases negative and positive ions into the air of your home. These ions naturally attract airborne pollutants, which cluster together around the ions. Once clustered, the pollutants are drawn into the purifier where they are filtered and destroyed.
Evaluating A Commercially Available In
Laboratory and field tests conducted to characterize bipolar ionization device.
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Evaluated impacts on gas and particle removal and byproduct formation.
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Ionization decreased some hydrocarbons but increased others.
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Ionization minimally impacted particles, ozone, and nitrogen dioxide.
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Ionization shifted particle size distribution but did not impact PM2.5 mass.
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What Are The Benefits We Can Get From Bipolar Ionization
The machines that reproduce ionization take care of recreating ions by exploiting the water vapor present in the air. The ionizer splits the water molecules into negatively and positively charged oxygen and hydrogen. In this way, the ions add mass to the fine dust present in the air, causing them to fall to the floor.
Additionally, ions can recombine into reactive hydroxyl radicals that remove hydrogen from other pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, and molds. This step is essential, especially regarding viral infections since the hydrogen present in the protein coat is the transmission danger factor. By eliminating it, the virus no longer has infectious power.
Benefits Of Bipolar Ionization Air Purifiers
There are a number of unique benefits with bipolar ionization that differ slightly when compared to traditional air purifiers.
Neutralize Bacteria and Virus Particles
This type of air purifying technology is particularly effective at eliminating airborne pathogens, such as bacteria and virus particles. The oxygen ions released by the purifier will bond to these harmful pollutants and inactivate them. Studies have shown that this type of air purifier can even trap and destroy harmful virus particles such as COVID-19. It must be noted, however, that tests performed on bipolar air purifiers with regard to the elimination of COVID-19 particles were done in a laboratory setting and not in a home.
Insider Tip
The functionality of a bipolar air purifier is not too different than what will be found with any ionic air purifier.
Great for Nasty Smells
Bipolar ions are a fantastic choice when it comes to eliminating odorous particles throughout the home, including mold, mildew, smoke, and a number of other common foul-smelling oddities. Oxygen ions pull these particles in and force them to oxidize, thus neutralizing any odors they may be producing. There is some debate, however, as to whether or not bipolar ionization is more effective at reducing foul odors than HEPA filters.
VOC Reduction
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The State Of Fall Allergies In 2021
Yes, allergies come back around in the fall and after a pretty pollen-filled spring season, we dont have much relief to look forward to this time around. And, with air pollution playing a critical role in triggering allergy symptoms, all regions of the nation will be impacted. Are you a fall allergy sufferer? Heres what you need to know this year.
The spring allergy season usually sets the tone for fall. If theres too much rain in the spring, it could lead to mold growth that forces your symptoms to last throughout the fall. Another common trigger of fall allergies? Ragweed! Ragweed pollen can trigger your sneezes, stuffy nose, and itchy eyes. According to the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, certain climate factors could contribute to your symptom severity, including high heat and humidity that causes mold growth and warm winds that cause pollen counts to surge.
While its almost impossible to control your exposure to outdoor allergens, you can suppress your exposure when indoors, thanks to Aprilaire whole-home Indoor Air Quality solutions.
Fall Allergy Season: Protecting Your Indoor Air Quality
How Do You Know Needlepoint Bipolar Ionization Effective
We assess the total volatile organic compounds in an area to see how successful Needlepoint Bipolar Ionization is. The amount of TVOCs in a place seems proportional to the number of bacteria and viruses present. The lower the amount of TVOCs, the fewer bacteria and viruses are current, and vice versa.
Its comparable to how we utilize CO2 levels to assess whether or not a space is occupied. Under 500 ppm is a good objective for TVOCs.
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The Ionizer In Your School May Not Do Much To Fight Covid
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Last fall, Jeff Kreiter, director of operational services for the school district in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, found himself flooded with proposals to clean the air inside classrooms. The ideas variedUV lights, air exchangers, a wide array of filtersbut one looked especially promising: a bipolar ionizer. The system involved a set of electrified tubes, placed in air ducts, that would flood the buildings with charged particles, or ions. Marketing materials from the company AtmosAir promised that this would eliminate pollutants and viruses by emulating the ion-rich air found in an alpine village. The district paid a local vendor $2 million to install the system in 33 school buildings. Ultimately we wanted to kill the virus and have a healthier environment, but we wanted this long-term and not just for corona, Kreiter says.
Read all of our coronavirus coveragehere.
Frustrated air-quality scientists say the industry is making a play for funds that should go to simpler, proven improvements to school ventilation. None of these devices have been proven to work, says Delphine Farmer, an atmospheric chemist at Colorado State University who has studied ionization technology. Anyone who understands the chemistry would say you should be very wary of using them.
None of these devices have been proven to work.
By Eve Sneider
Plasmapure Bipolar Ionization Solutions
HVAC air purification for residential and light commercial
PlasmaPURE uses bipolar ionization technology to proactively purify indoor air. All products are UL 2998 validated for zero ozone emissions. Uniquely small in size the PlasmaPURE 600 and AutoClean 1500 allow for flexible, fast, and easy installation – mounting directly at the blower housing.
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Why Use A Bipolar Ionization Instead Of A Conventional Ionizer
Ionizers are the only method of air disinfection that is entirely safe. When utilizing ionizers, individuals should not leave the rooms open since no dangerous gases or poisonous residues might hurt people or objects. Allergy-causing allergens, including pollen, fungus, and mold, may be eliminated within 24 hours after sanitizing the area. Other benefits include the removal of unpleasant odors and electrostatic charges from the air.
S Of Bipolar Ionization
The most notable bipolar ionization technologies are Corona Discharge and Needlepoint Bipolar Ionization.
Corona Discharge
Simply put, the corona discharge technology produces ions by using a pair of electrical current conductors.
The disadvantage of corona discharge ionization is the possible formation of ozone, which can damage human respiratory tissues.
Needlepoint Bipolar Ionization
Needlepoint Bipolar Ionization, unlike corona discharge systems, does not directly ionize oxygen.
The technology uses a pair of electrodes, one positive and one negative, to generate a plasma field that extracts electrons from air molecules.
Advantages And Disadvantages Of Bipolar Ionization
Since this is a relatively new technology on the market, there are many skeptics about it.
Here is all you need to know if you consider using bipolar ionization in your indoor spaces:
Adaptability
There are several uses for this technology in both commercial and residential environments. Malls, education, entertainment, health care, hospitality, offices, and transportation are only a few of the areas that have already benefited from cleaner, safer air.
No ozone
This is a debated topic. Ozone is a lung irritant dangerous for human health.
In the past, bipolar ionization technology had a reputation for generating ozone, and to this day, unfortunately, there can still be accredited devices to do so.
No ongoing maintenance.
On the other hand, some manufacturers use improper materials in their units.
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What Are Oxygen Ions
Ions are molecules or atoms that contain an electrical charge and exist in nature in various sizes. Small ions only last between 30 and 300 seconds before losing their charge, but are extremely active.
Small ion densities range from 900 to 1,100 negative ions and 1,000 to 1,200 positive ions per cubic centimeter in pristine natural environments. At sea level ion density is typically around 500 negative and 600 positive ions/cm3. In cities and inside buildings ion levels drop by 80% to 95% and can be barely detectable in small spaces.
As ion density decreases, so does the air quality. By increasing the quantity of both positively and negatively charged small oxygen ions, air quality is improved. This is the basis of Plasma Air’s bipolar ionization technology.
How Do You Know Its Effective
To evaluate the effectiveness of NBPI, we measure the total volatile organic compounds in a space. There tends to be a direct relationship between the level of TVOCs and the level of bacteria and viruses in a space. The lower the level of TVOCs, the lower the level of bacteria and viruses, and vice versa. Its similar to the way we use CO2 levels to determine whether people are occupying a space. For TVOCs, under 500 ppm is a good target.
Karpinskis NBPI system is linked to our BAS so we can gather and view the data. When our NBPI system is running, the TVOC level drops dramatically which suggests that the amount of bacteria and viruses decline too.
A couple interesting notes about the dashboard: Our HVAC and our NBPI system runs during standard office hours, and the dashboard shows that TVOC levels are generally below the 500 ppm target. At night, when the system is not distributing ions through the office, the VOC level rises. Additionally, once the system was running, we noticed random spikes in TVOC levels. We ultimately attributed the spikes to the TVOC sensors location near the office coffee bar. People give off VOCs, so their presence near the sensor impacts the TVOC readings.
Thank you to Ben Arnett of Critical Aire for providing NBPI data for the article.
Karpinski Engineering
Karpinski Engineering has been partnering with clients for the last four decadesto design environments that make a positive and lasting impact.
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Bipolar Ionization Can Help Reduce Viruses From The Air Including Covid
Portable and HVAC Induct air purifiers are convenient devices that can instantly amplify the amount of air cleaned in a given space. Considering the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on indoor air quality , it’s no surprise that many of us are trying to become subject matter experts on traditional and electronic air purification technologies.
With offices, schools, and universities installing multiple forms of traditional and electronic air cleaning technologies in their facilities, it is essential to understand their impact on occupied indoor environments. Amongst all these air purification technologies, bipolar ionization has become the focus of numerous facilities in both public and private sectors nationwide.
In this article, the technology subject matter experts here at Sanalife have entirely broken down bipolar ionization technology from function to benefits and often unknown harmful side effects.
Can Bipolar Ionization Technology Help Eliminate Covid
As we mark the first anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic, were still figuring out the delicate balance between reopening and transmission control. This pandemic has been a learning experience for us all, exposing just how important indoor air quality is for the health and safety of everyone. As part of this learning process, new and existing pieces of technology have been widely adopted to limit the spread of COVID-19.
Bipolar ionization, already prevalent in medical settings, emerged as one of the most promising remedies for the airborne and droplet transmission of COVID-19. But how does this air purification method stop viruses? Are there any downsides to bipolar ionization? Is bipolar ionization safe? Wed like to take this article to discuss these concerns.
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