Air Con Servicing and Possible Health Risks.

Certainly, this virus is strong and easily spread to contaminate orders. To protect yourself and your family, wearing face mask to do the air con / ductwork cleaning is necessary.

I was listening to a professor of all things virus on the radio , he said ordinary face masks covering nose and mouth were a waste of time, you need a full face job as corona can get in through the eyes

The main point of surgical masks is to for the wearer to avoid infecting other people by breathing, coughing or sneezing at them (hence why the surgeon wears the mask). About the only thing such masks are useful for on people trying to avoid being infected is that it may remind you not to touch your mouth, nose etc with your grubby infected hands.

I would recommend wearing a mask when changing any ventilation filters, irrespective of Coronavirus.


All the dust on them contains a year's worth (or more) of all kinds of residues, chemical mainly though, as the dryness of air conditioned air will kill off viruses pretty quickly.


regards

burn:

I would recommend wearing a mask when changing any ventilation filters, irrespective of Coronavirus.


All the dust on them contains a year's worth (or more) of all kinds of residues, chemical mainly though, as the dryness of air conditioned air will kill off viruses pretty quickly.


regards

Don't bet on it not being "active" - particularly if you have humidification 


The stuff my infection control colleagues used to grow from samples out of ventilation ducts was positively frightening - not so many virus as you say, but plenty microbial from some pretty nasty families.


Wearing a good mask when dealing with any dusty product (like dry filter changes) is basic good practice (along with gloves and googles)


Regards


OMS

It is highly unlikely that A/C or air recirculating equipment will contribute to the spread of any of the many flu viruses that are around all of the time, for many years manufacturers have included 'black' components within the equipment, basically discretes in various shapes like small towers or discs that emit UV-C, thats why you dont see swathes of people who work in fully controlled ventilation offices off sick, a cruise ship because of the sheer numbers and restricted movement acts as an incubator for any flu virus thats around at the time and is a cause for concern as it will contain many people who have low immune systems and underlying pulmonary issues such as the elderly.


Mother nature is on the whole kind to the UK as we are what is known as a peninsular island that enjoys air movement of around 50kmph on average, high humidity and plenty of UV, agreed there are areas of concern that have been mapped out already such as the SE and London, large towns and cities where there is a high number of the population who have weak immune systems and prone to pulmonary problems due to pollution, poor air quality and lack of substantial UV but this is a problem every year when all the other flu's kick in.


COVID-19 is just another flu virus and because it is a new mysterious emerging virus it is inevitable that the press and social media platforms like this start screaming 'Zombie Apocalypse' forgetting that the normal annual flu's we have grown to hate kill 50 to 100k people a year.


The pressing question is should we be worried about COVID-19, no not really its just another flu to cause another bit of misery so do what you normally do every year, have a flu jab (it wont cure it but will make it more bearable and offers a modicum of protection to those who have other underlying health problems), personal hygiene such as more showers and wash hands regularly, ensure surfaces at home, office and school are wiped down, rinse raw fruit and vegetables, dont get too close to people who are sniffy etc; and dont cough and sneeze openly, probably stay away from large gatherings and give fast food outlets a miss for the time being where irresponsible people spit in and lick your food and wander around with unwashed hands.


Face masks are on the whole pretty useless in containing a virus as has been pointed out you have vulnerable areas such as eyes, ears and other orifices exposed not to mention cuts, abrasions, pores, sweat glands where the virus can find a host to incubate, after 10 minutes or so a face mask is contaminated with saliva, mucous and various membranes that make it an ideal host, the downside is people throw the infected mask into the litter bin, dustbin or just on the street when in actual reality it should be burned immediately, saying that I dont think we should condemn masks as it does give people a sense of security to go about their tasks in a normal way rather than staying at home.


At the moment PHE and PCT are giving out some fairly sound advice and its up to you to manage this as best you can, saying that what you do every year in fact.?



Rob Davies

Environment and Public Health PCT

Coughs and sneezes spread diseases......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGop2QiSWLU


Z.

R.Davies BSc(UMIST) AMIMechE CIEH:

It is highly unlikely that A/C or air recirculating equipment will contribute to the spread of any of the many flu viruses that are around all of the time, for many years manufacturers have included 'black' components within the equipment, basically discretes in various shapes like small towers or discs that emit UV-C, thats why you dont see swathes of people who work in fully controlled ventilation offices off sick, a cruise ship because of the sheer numbers and restricted movement acts as an incubator for any flu virus thats around at the time and is a cause for concern as it will contain many people who have low immune systems and underlying pulmonary issues such as the elderly.

 

It's highly unlikely that there are UV generators in by far the vast majority of air handling plant in most buildings. Even in healthcare premises, there is more chance of having UV units in the water supply to humidifiers than acting in the air stream.


Regards


OMS

R.Davies BSc(UMIST) AMIMechE CIEH:

COVID-19 is just another flu virus ...

In fact it is just another coronavirus, which is one of the pathogens which causes a common cold.

... have a flu jab (it wont cure it but will make it more bearable and offers a modicum of protection to those who have other underlying health problems) ...

with good reason - the germicidal lamps (mercury vapour, UV-C spectrum) at the sort of power density needed to reliably disinfect cubic feet of air per second also produce noticable volumes of ozone, in much the same way the sun does to the air at high altitude. While this is also a germicide, it is very bad for humans to inhale over a long period.

Heat exchange with fresh air from outside, and HEPA filtering is a better strategy for a normal building. Targeted UV for a hand dryer or something desktop may make more sense, and I know it is seen on air exhausts for experimental cabinets at places like Porton Down handling nasty pathogens, where releasing a bit of ozone is a far more manageable risk than the alternatives that might get pumped out the vents.


'Black light' UV  uses a filter glass to emove the dangerous UV, and is great for making your clothes fluoresce at the disco, and shows up false teeth at least according to one pop song (Oldest Swinger in Town) but has almost no sterilising property. This does not stop 'sterilisers' based on them turning up on Ebay and the like.


To see UV-C  lamps in supplies to water chillers and so on is quite common.