Hospital air needs to be clean. It’s important for patients and all of us. Hospitals have a hard job keeping the air clean because germs, chemicals, and tiny bits of particles get in the air.
Hospitals use these things called High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters. These filters use a special way called diffusion to catch really tiny particles. This keeps the air clean and safe for patients and everyone. Sometimes, hospitals use other things with HEPA filters, like UV lights and filters made of activated carbon, to make the air even cleaner.
Knowing about the different ways hospitals clean the air can help you make good choices when you buy stuff for your hospital.
What kind of air filtration do hospitals use?
Hospitals use HEPA filters to clean the air. These filters catch at least 99.97% of tiny things in the air that are 0.3 microns or bigger. In hospital biological safety cabinets, HEPA filters stop germs from entering the room. This keeps the room clean and safe.
HEPA Filters
Hospitals use HEPA filters a lot. They are good at removing bacteria, viruses, and other dirt in your air.
HEPA filters are used in a lot of places:
Operating rooms
Intensive care units (ICUs)
Biological safety cabinets
Patient isolation rooms
HVAC systems that have really good filters
Hospitals use good air filters in their heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems to ensure the air is good. They use many different filters, like pre-filters, HEPA filters, and sometimes ULPA filters.
Pre-filters catch big particles in the air and make HEPA filters last longer.
HEPA filters are the main filters that take out little particles.
ULPA filters are for places where you need to take out even more little stuff in the air.
What do hospitals use to clean their air?
Hospitals have been cleaning the air for a long time. They do this by letting fresh air in and pushing old air out. They also use special lights called UV lights and HEPA filters. UV lights use special light to kill or stop germs. And HEPA filters to catch tiny things in the air.
Regularly letting fresh air in and getting old air out
The most basic way hospitals clean the air is by bringing in fresh air from outside and getting rid of old air. This makes the bad stuff in the air less concentrated and gets rid of it.
Air Handling Units (AHUs): These machines move air around and clean it in the hospital.
Exhaust Systems: These machines take bad air out of special places in the hospital, like isolation rooms or labs.
Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation (UVGI)
UVGI uses UV light to kill or inactivate germs like bacteria, viruses, and molds. It’s often used with HEPA filters to make air cleaner.
You can put UVGI lamps in air ducts and AHUs to kill germs as air goes through.
You also can use portable UVGI Units in rooms and areas that need a quick germ kill.
Activated Carbon Filters
Activated carbon filters are used to get rid of smells, gases, and VOCs in the air. They’re often used with HEPA filters to give you good air.
You can use them in
Emergency Rooms and Labs: Places with lots of chemicals and smells.
General Hospital Areas: To make the air better and more comfy.
Do hospitals have air purifiers?
Yes, hospitals use air purifiers to make the air better. For example, by using Camfil air cleaners, hospitals can take ISO 8 rooms up to ISO 7 air quality, which is a big deal because it means there is a much lower chance of getting dirt from the air.
What chemicals are used in air purification?
People use magnesium dioxide and copper oxide in their air purifiers. They put these chemicals inside activated carbon filters to get rid of bad gases like carbon monoxide, ethylene oxide, and ozone so the air is safe.
What is hospital grade air filter?
Medical grade HEPA filters are really thick filters with lots of pleats in them. They catch 99.97% of the bad stuff in the air. The pleats make a wall of fibers that are all mixed up and catch things like dust and dirt. You have to have these filters in hospitals to keep everything clean and stop the disease from spreading.
What are the requirements for hospital air filters?
According to OSHA, hospital Filters have to be MERV 13 or higher to get rid of particles between 0.3 and 10 microns. In really important places like operating rooms and ICUs, you have to use HEPA filters. HEPA filters get rid of 99.97% of particles as small as 0.3 microns. You have to follow rules like ASHRAE 170 and ISO 14644 to make sure your filters work right and keep hospitals safe.
ASHRAE 170: How to Air Out Hospitals
ASHRAE 170 is a rule made by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) just for how to air out hospitals. This rule tells you how to design and take care of the heating, cooling, and air conditioning (HVAC) system so the air is good and the temperature is right in hospitals.
ISO 14644: How to Keep Rooms Clean and Other Controlled Places
ISO 14644 is a set of rules from the ISO that tell you how to keep the air clean in cleanrooms and other places where you have to be careful about what’s in the air. People in healthcare use it a lot to make sure the air is super clean.
How often should I change my HEPA filter in the hospital?
In hospitals, how often you change a HEPA filter depends on how much you use it and how dirty it gets. You should check on HEPA filters from time to time and change them every 12 to 24 months. But if you have a lot of dirty stuff in the air or there’s a pandemic, you might have to change them more often to make sure the air is good.
Places with a lot of people and a lot of dirt
If there are a lot of people or a lot of junk in the air, like in emergency rooms, operating rooms, and ICUs, you might have to change the filters more often. In those cases, you might need to change the filters every 6 to 12 months to keep the air good.
Places with not a lot of people
In places with not a lot of people, like offices or regular rooms, you can wait up to 24 months to change the filters, as long as you check them regularly to make sure they’re still working.
Conclusion
So, hospitals use many different things to make the air clean and safe, like HEPA filters, UVGI, and activated carbon filters. Knowing about these things can help you make good choices about air filters for hospitals.
