Beware of Viruses in Enclosed Spaces!

With the start of the new normal period, many businesses and offices have begun reopening and providing services with precautions in place. To ensure that the enclosed spaces where we spend a large part of our lives — including our homes — are truly hygienic, air quality must also be taken into consideration. Experts recommend continuously monitoring pollutants that directly threaten health, such as particulate matter and VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds), in all shared spaces large and small — including shopping malls, hospitals, hair salons, and restaurants — and using solutions that purify the air, in order to guard against the risk of airborne transmission of viruses and germs.

The quality of the air we breathe in the enclosed spaces where we spend most of our lives is critically important for our health. Research shows that indoor air quality is 7 times more polluted than outdoor air. In this period of carefully re-entering public life, monitoring indoor air quality and ensuring clean air circulation — especially in places with high foot traffic where the same indoor air is breathed for extended periods — has become even more important as a safeguard against the risk of airborne virus transmission.

The air we breathe is full of "invisible killers"!

Indoor air quality is measured across two types of pollution: particulate size/concentration and VOCs. Bomaksan General Manager R. Bora Boysan, who describes these pollutants as "invisible killers" because they cannot be seen with the naked eye, highlights that they can only be measured by sensors with specialized laser technology, and warns us about the dangers lurking in the air we breathe: "Particles are classified by size as PM1, PM2.5, PM5, and PM10. Research conducted in recent years has proven that PM2.5 and PM1 particles cause cancer. For this reason, it is very important that the PM1 and PM2.5 concentration levels in the air we breathe remain low. The VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) type of pollution, which carries the same health risks, is generally released from chemicals used indoors (bleach, scented candles, sprays, etc.). Formaldehydes — which, like VOCs, are typically released into the air from carpets, rugs, and old furniture — are also chemical gases that need to be removed from the air we breathe."

Shopping malls and hospitals are at risk!

R. Bora Boysan recommends that large and crowded venues such as shopping malls first switch to 100% fresh air supply in their central ventilation systems, stating: "Before the pandemic, in order to save energy, a portion of the air drawn in by these central ventilation systems was returned indoors after basic filtration. However, this is an operating practice that must absolutely be avoided during the pandemic period. Organizations including TTMD and İSKİD have repeatedly made the necessary calls on this issue. In such systems, some degree of protection can be achieved by replacing the return air filtration systems with HEPA-class filters. The greatest risk lies in hospitals. In hospitals — whose central ventilation systems are designed differently from other commercial establishments — as well as in places like shopping malls, solutions such as HEPA filter air handling units will both provide far more effective ventilation in localized zones and contribute to creating a more sterile environment by purifying indoor air more frequently."

No central ventilation? The solution is a portable clean air unit

Boysan draws attention to the fact that in places such as hair salons, grocery stores, offices, and cafés that lack central ventilation systems, employees and customers spend their entire day in an enclosed environment, making air purification critically important: "With natural ventilation methods, uniform distribution of fresh, clean air is unfortunately not possible. Air quality decreases the further you move toward the interior of a space. For this reason, businesses of this type that want clean and healthy air can find their solution with portable clean air units. Under our BOA AIR brand, the portable clean air units we have developed at Bomaksan continuously provide clean air by filtering out VOCs and unpleasant odors with the densest activated carbon filter in their class, while trapping microorganisms such as viruses and bacteria as well as PM2.5 particles using H14-class HEPA filters — the highest-rated in their class."