Much of human exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) of outdoor origin occurs in residences. High-efficiency particle air filtration in central heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems is increasingly being used to reduce concentrations of particulate matter inside homes. However, questions remain about the effectiveness of filtration for reducing exposures to PM2.5 of out...

Forced-air warming devices are effective for the prevention of surgical hypothermia. However, these devices intake nonsterile floor-level air, and it is unknown whether they have adequate filtration measures to prevent the internal buildup or emission of microbial contaminants. We rated the intake filtration efficiency of a popular current-generation forced-air warming device (Bair Hugger model...

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a severe shortage of personal protective equipment. World Health Organization (WHO) and the US Centers for Disease Control Prevention (CDC) recommend t...

In the current study we examined the impact of thread filtration using an automatic microfiber filter on Lake Kinneret water quality and as a new application to control biofouling over time. We found that automatic microfiber filtration (AMF) reduced total iron and aluminum in water by over 80%. Particle analysis (>2 μm) revealed a total particle removal efficiency of ≈ 90%, with AMF removal ef...

Downward and upward ultrafiltration (UF) was performed using the suspensions of nanosized colloidal silica with different particle diameters and their filtration rates were compared. In downward UF, the filtration rate decreases as the particle diameter decreases because the specific filtration resistance of the filter cake becomes significantly higher. In contrast, the filtration rate in upwar...

BACKGROUND Exposure to particulate air pollution increases respiratory and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, especially in elderly, possibly through inflammation and vascular dysfunction. METHODS We examined potential beneficial effects of indoor air filtration in the homes of elderly, including people taking vasoactive drugs.Forty-eight nonsmoking subjects (51 to 81 years) in 27 homes ...

[1] A technique for visualizing particle transport in the interior of a porous medium is presented. The technique, which includes the construction of a translucent medium and the use of laser-induced fluorescence for particle tracking, was used to examine the behavior of a dilute suspension of negatively charged, micron-sized particles in the interior of uniform glass bead packs during one-dime...

Forced-air-warming (FAW) is an effective and widely used means for maintaining surgical normothermia, but FAW also has the potential to generate and mobilize airborne contamination in the operating room.We measured the emission of viable and non-viable forms of airborne contamination from an arbitrary selection of FAW blowers (n=25) in the operating room. A laser particle counter measured parti...

Air quality control has become increasingly important in many industrial areas. Glass fiber filter paper is widely used for the collection of airborne particulate matter. Since glass fiber is fragile, fiber dispersion is believed to be important for controlling filter paper properties. In this paper, the impact of fiber dispersion on filtration performance and tensile properties was studied. Tw...