CDC sets first federal target for #ventilation of indoor air to lower #transmission risk for #Covid-19 | CNN
▻https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/12/health/cdc-new-ventilation-target/index.html
The agency had advised people to ventilate indoor #air before, but this is the first time a federal agency has set a target – five air changes per hour – for how much rooms and buildings should be ventilated.
Air quality experts cheered the updated recommendations.
“It’s a monumental shift . We haven’t had this. We haven’t had health-based ventilation standards,” said Joseph Allen, director of the Harvard Healthy Buildings Program.
Allen says that although it’s easy to see the guidance only in the context of Covid-19, it will help with many other airborne hazards like wildfire smoke, allergens and other infectious diseases, such as the flu.
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“I am pleasantly surprised to see CDC add this guidance. I do find it ironic that they finally published ways to end the pandemic at the same time as declaring it is over ,” said Kimberly Prather, an atmospheric chemist at the University of California at San Diego and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
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“If they had broadcast and implemented these changes at the beginning, there never would have been a pandemic,” Prather said.
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The new guidance offers detailed recommendations for how to make indoor air healthier. Some of the strategies are as simple as opening a window to let in more outdoor air and using fans to increase the effectiveness of open windows.
In addition to better air circulation, the CDC recommends cleaning indoor air, using MERV-13 air filters in your HVAC system if possible. Air cleaners or purifiers may be helpful if they use high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA). The CDC says these are most important in high-risk areas like schools and medical offices. Systems that use UV light to kill germs may also be helpful.
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Ventilation and air cleaning strategies together can help meet the target.
Source:
Ventilation in Buildings | CDC
▻https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/ventilation.html