Transcript The Open Air Factor

The Open Air Factor
A Story of OAFs and SODs, Sausages
and circumstances
The Open Air Factor

History

First identified in the 1960’s at Porton Down – Microbiological
Research Establishment- MRE

Recorded as a Patent Specification in March 1968- Druett &
Packman (MRE)

Nature 26th Oct 1968- “An Unstable Germicidal Pollutant in
Rural Air”- Druett & Packman (MRE)
The Open Air Factor (1968)
 “ Substances known collectively as “The
Open Air Factor” which kill bacteria, exist in
the atmosphere at Porton”
 “The Properties of the open air factor are
similar to… ozone-olefin reactions”
 “Some viruses are susceptible to an open
air factor which is constant from night to
night the nature of which is unknown”
The Open Air Factor (1988)
 1988- Lincolnshire Sausages made
with fresh English Sage have a much
longer shelf-life than those made with
dried sage
 Prof D.C. Ellwood- “If only someone
could design an Open Air Factor
Generator”
The Open Air Factor (1992-3)
 1988-91 Experiments with ozone in
gaseous and solution forms
 1992 First Open Air Factor generator built
using an ozone emitting UV tube and
Essential Oils extracted from herbs- Sage
and Rosemary
 Experiments at a UKAS Accredited Lab
showed average bacterial cell death of
99.999% in 60 seconds compared to
control.
The Open Air Factor (1993)
 Patent Granted!
The Open Air Factor (1998)
 Experiments carried out by
 MRE Porton Down (Benbough and Bennett)
 S.C. Johnson& Son Inc. ( Racine WI.)
(Sadler)
 Harry Reid Centre for Environmental
Studies, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
(Jacoby-Garrett, Bishop and Stetzenbach)
 All variously showed 3-5 log reductions
against controls vs Staphylococcus,
Micrococcus, E.coli, Klebsiella, and
significant reductions in Bacillus spp and
Clostridium.
The Open Air Factor
 We have identified at least 40 kinetic
stages
 The products of each kinetic stage are
capable of reacting with their own
precursors and progeny
 Its not taught to microbiologists in
Universities
 Atmospheric Chemists know all about it
 Microbiologists don’t read papers on
atmospheric chemistry
The Open Air Factor -Actives
 HOCH2OOH
HYDROXYMETHYLHYDROPEROXIDE
 CH3OOH
METHYL HYDROPEROXIDE
 CH3CH(OH)OOH
HYDROXYETHYL HYDROPEROXIDE
 C2H5OOH
ETHYL HYDROPEROXIDE
The Open Air Factor - Actives
 H2O2 HYDROGEN PEROXIDE

Plus Many, Many more…..

AND…
The Open Air Factor
OH•
The Hydroxyl Radical
The Open Air Factor 1998-2005
 Problems with OAFs
 In anything other than very low
concentrations it generates a
particulate “fog”.
 Detectable Ozone must be present in
the initial stages
 The By-products are difficult to
characterise because they are so
reactive
The Open Air Factor 2005-2008
 The solution to the problems
 “Plasmalyser”
 A non thermal plasma generates the ozone,
destroys the particulates, creates hydroxyl
radicals, prevents fouling of:
 A UV/catalysis stage, which further
removes unwanted contaminants increases
hydroxyl radicals
 Finally residual ozone is blended with
terpenes to create Open Air Factor
The Open Air Factor- Chestnuts!
 “If it kills bacteria and viruses so
effectively it must be harmful to
animals”
 “Its Ozone that’s the biocide”
 “It contains ………..(fill in the blank)
which has been shown in some
studies to be harmful/irritant/
deadly…”
Open Air Factor
 In 2008 tests at the Building
Research Establishment’s
Indoor Air Quality Monitoring Unit
Ozone –below 30ppb
No hazardous by-products when
compared to international standards
The Open Air Factor- Effectiveness
 It kills airborne virus and bacteria, often
within seconds of exposure
 It kills on surfaces
 It does not require all of the air in a room
to constantly pass through a device
 It works 24/7
 It is benign to humans and other animals.
 It is neutralized by Superoxide dismutases
(SODs)
The Open Air Factor- Plasmalyser
Generated.
Surviving Bacteria at 1 hour
Comparison Test
Bacteria Aerosolised equidistant between device and AGI
Sampler
20000
18000
16000
14000
12000
10000
8000
6000
4000
2000
0
Control
Plasmalyser
Hepa Filter
UV Catalysis
Ionizer
1m
2m
3m
4m
5m
6m
7m
8m
Sample distance from device
9m
10m
Open Air Factor- The Next
Generation Picture Courtesy of Tri-Air Developments Ltd.