An old recipe to clean and prevent contagions: The Open-Air Factor

In the open air risks of transmission of COVID-19 or any other pathogens are low. There is a belief that the peaks of flu and cold epidemics occur in winter because cold weather reduces our immune system. In reality, they mostly occur because the population spend more time indoors, buildings or classrooms, and that’s when contagions occur.

There are many factors that reduce the effectiveness of viruses in the open air: Temperature, relative humidity, ultraviolet radiation, etc. But there is another factor that reduces the viability of bacteria and viruses outside: The Open-Air Factor. Despite the robust evidence of its germicidal power, its influence on the survival of airborne pathogens has not yet been adequately recognized.

Let’s give some examples of how the population and the medical community have been using the Open-Air Factor for some time. Then we will study the scientific evidence and detail what it consists of.

During the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, sanatoriums had their heyday in the treatment of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis. The treatments consisted basically in breathing pure air in areas far from cities. Also in the treatment of wounds during the First World War, doctors recommended soldiers to convalesce in sites provided with open air spaces to avoid infections. This treatment was used in the flu pandemic in 1918-19 and was proposed as a treatment for burns in the 1950s. Then it fell into oblivion.

The era of antibiotics was beginning, and we were forgetting about more sustainable practices.

There has always been the practice of “ventilating” rooms in homes. People say so that odors and pollutants “come out”. Another common practice is to let the wounds “breathe” to cure and heal better. We are also told that drying clothes in the sun is much better than doing it indoors. But, is it to dry them faster?… So, why in northern latitudes like Yakutia (Siberia) people use to hang clothes outside in the air at -50º C?

The reality is very different from popular belief. These behaviors and others, are followed because we have seen them working for us without asking much more. The truth is that we do all this to inactivate the pathogens present in clothes, interiors, and surfaces of a home. We are applying the Open-Air Factor. OK, and then… What is it in this Open-Air Factor?

In nature, a series of chemical reactions occur naturally as a result of solar radiation in oxygen. Amongst those many, the main benefitial effect is the generation of a series of very reactive molecules (ROS) called “the natural detergent of the air” that end up producing compounds called hydroxyl radicals (OH.) that apart from mineralizing the Volatile Organic Compounds emitted in the form natural or anthropogenic, they are responsible for inactivating the germs present in the air. Hydroxyls attack the cell walls of microorganisms. Human beings and animals are protected by antioxidants that we have developed over millions of years of evolution.

A curiosity: When the day is cloudy or rainy this disinfecting process is very superior. The sun’s rays fall directly on the cloud layer, and this greater humidity facilitates the transmission of this cleaning reaction. We say that the Open-Air Factor is higher.

As it is not always possible to ventilate due to the design of spaces, or for thermal comfort, PUROH has managed to replicate this natural phenomenon in its technology. From Hydrogen Peroxide and tiny amounts of ozone, PUROH generates Open-Air Factor in closed spaces without the need to ventilate. The same radical, germicidal, anti-allergic and decontaminating reaction is produced from a small, low-consumption device.

It is a much more sustainable, clean effective and natural way to obtain high quality breathable air

Bibliography:

An Old Defense Against New Infections: The Open-Air Factor and COVID-19. 1Public Health, Hobday Research, Cwmbran, GBR. 2 Microbiology, Canberra Hospital, ACT Health, Canberra, AUS. 3 Medical School, Australian National University, Canberra, AUS

Cox CS, Hood AM, Baxter J. Method for comparing concentrations of the open-air factor. Appl Microbiol. 1973 Oct;26(4):640-2. doi: 10.1128/am.26.4.640-642.1973. PMID: 4584599; PMCID: PMC379869.

Opinion: The germicidal effect of ambient air (open-air factor) revisited

September 2021Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 21(17):13011-13018

DOI:10.5194/acp-21-13011-2021 LicenseCC BY 4.0 Richard Anthony Cox

University of Cambridge, Markus Ammann at Paul Scherrer Institute, Paul Griffiths

University of Cambridge, et al.