Fresh Air Can Defeat Coronaviruses

Distinguished Professor Lidia Morawska is leading an international call for a "paradigm shift" in combating airborne pathogens such as COVID-19.

Announced on May 14, 2021, Prof. Morawska is ‘demanding universal recognition that infections can be prevented by improving indoor ventilation systems.’

Professor Morawska led a group of almost 40 researchers from 14 countries in a call published in Science for a shift in standards in ventilation requirements. This international group of air quality researchers called on the World Health Organisation to extend indoor air quality guidelines to include airborne pathogens and to recognize the need to control hazards of airborne transmission of respiratory infections.

Professor Morawska, director of Queensland University of Technology (QUT) International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health, stated in a press release, there needed to be a shift in the perception that we could not afford the cost of control, given the globally monthly harm from COVID-19 had been conservatively estimated as $1 trillion. 

The cost of influenza in the US alone exceeded $11.2 billion annually.

"We need to establish the foundations to ensure that the air in our buildings is clean with a significantly reduced pathogen count, contributing to the building occupants' health, just as we expect for the water coming out of our taps," Professor Morawska commented.

"Mandated building ventilation standards need to include higher airflow, filtration and disinfection rates, and monitors that allowed the public to observe the quality of air around them.

"We should have virus-free air indoors."

"We've provided strong evidence that airborne transmission spreads infections, so there should be international ventilation standards that control pathogens," she said.

"Most minimum ventilation standards outside of specialized healthcare and research facilities only control for odor, CO2 levels, temperature, and humidity.”

"Ventilation systems with higher airflow rates and which distribute clean disinfected air so that it reaches the breathing zone of occupants must be demand-controlled and thus be flexible."

"Buildings consume over one-third of energy globally, much of it expended on heating/cooling outdoor air as it is brought indoors.”

"While building designs should optimize indoor environment quality in terms of health and comfort, they should do that in an energy-efficient way in the context of local climate and outdoor air pollution."

"Wide use of monitors displaying the state of indoor air quality must be mandated too because the general public currently has no way of knowing the condition of indoor spaces they occupy and share with others.

"Visible displays will keep building operators accountable for air quality. The public should be aware and demand safe environments.

"None of this means that every indoor space should become a biosafety facility, but a building should be designed and operated according to its purpose and activities conducted there, so that airborne infection risk stays below an acceptable level."

While the detailed economic analysis was yet to be done, Professor Morawska said estimates suggested necessary investments in building systems may be less than one percent of the construction cost of a typical building.

"The cost of infections come from different pockets--building and operating costs, health care costs--but ultimately, society pays for all the costs, so a cross-system reallocation of budgets must also be facilitated to mandate new ventilation standards," Professor Morawska said.

"The benefits are beyond infectious disease transmission”

On July 6, 2020, Professor Morawska and a group of 239 international experts published an open letter on the need to rethink popular advice on how COVID-19 is spread: It is Time to Address Airborne Transmission of COVID-19.

The US Environmental Protection Agency stated in 1991 ‘The term "sick building syndrome" (SBS) is used to describe situations in which building occupants experience acute health and comfort effects that appear to be linked to time spent in a building, but no specific illness or cause can be identified.’

‘SBS complaints may be localized in a particular room or zone, or maybe widespread throughout the building.’

‘In contrast, the term "building-related illness" is used when symptoms of diagnosable illness are identified and can be attributed directly to airborne building contaminants.’

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