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Clearing the air of SARS-CoV-2

2021; American Chemical Society; Volume: 99; Issue: 9 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1021/cen-09909-feature2

2474-7408

special to C EN Mark Peplow,

Infection Control and Ventilation

During the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was common to see people on social media sharing strategies for disinfecting groceries to remove any possible trace of SARS-CoV-2. Over the past year, though, research has shown that surface transmission is a relatively unlikely route of infection, while transmission through the air poses a far bigger threat—not only via contaminated droplets sprayed out during a coughing fit but also from the fine mist of virus-bearing aerosols emitted when someone speaks or even breathes. That shift in focus has spurred a booming market for air purifiers that promise to remove or neutralize SARS-CoV-2 particles. For example, the consumer electronics jamboree CES recently featured a bewildering array of high-tech air-scrubbing products. "There's a phenomenal amount of hype related to air-cleaning products right now," says Richard Shaughnessy , director of the Indoor Air Program at the University of Tulsa. According to the US