99.8% pathogen reduction after 60 minutes! FDA approved! Reactive compounds destroy SARS-CoV-2!

By Brent Stephens on March 13, 2021

The market for air cleaners is booming and you’ve undoubtedly seen these types of claims. I’ve spoken to countless business owners, building managers, engineers, teachers, and concerned citizens over the last several months who have had questions about the effectiveness and safety of a wide variety of air cleaning technologies that are being heavily marketed to combat COVID-19 transmission in indoor environments. The marketing claims are often bold, and sound quite promising:

• ABC technology uses reactive molecules [or super oxides or positive and negative ions] to destroy SARS-CoV-2 on surfaces and in air!
• XYZ technology has just been granted emergency FDA approval!
• DEF technology reduces viable SARS-CoV-2 [or surrogate organism] by 99.99% in 60 minutes!

These claims are frequently made based on results from test reports from third-party test labs such as EMSL, MRI Global, Innovative Bioanalysis, Analytical Lab Group, and Aerosol Research and Engineering Laboratories, to name a few. As far as I can tell, these are generally manufacturer- or distributor-funded lab tests intended to demonstrate the effectiveness of an air cleaning device for removing particles, killing microorganisms, or whatever the device is purported to do.