On July 26 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency scientists began testing the power of the low-cost DIY 'Corsi-Rosenthal' box air purifier against infectious aerosols, like the virus that causes COVID-19, at its EPA Homeland Security Division Laboratory's high-tech, advanced biochamber.
After a long road trip from Connecticut to North Carolina, the owl has landed. 'Owl Force One' arrived to the EPA on July 26 for testing in the agency's 3,000 cubic ft. bioaerosol test chamber.
"We're here to test 'Owl Force One' against MS2. A student from Connecticut has created this box with her classroom of fifth graders. We are taking the kids' creation and testing it in a state-of-the-art 3,000 cubic ft. biochamber!" says Marina Creed, APRN, director of the UConn Indoor Air Quality Initiative.
The device 'Owl Force One' was built, named and decorated by a 9-year-old fifth grader and her classmates with members of the UConn Indoor Air Quality Initiative at Commodore MacDonough STEM Academy in Middletown, Connecticut. An owl is the school's mascot.
For two weeks the EPA scientists will be testing the efficacy of the inexpensive DIY device against the non-pathogenic bacteriophage MS2, a surrogate virus for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
The UConn road trip to the EPA's Office of Research and Development in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina included Creed from UConn Health, with co-collaborators Kristina Wagstrom, Ph.D. of UConn School of Engineering and Misti Zamora, Ph.D. of UConn School of Medicine. They were joined by fifth grader, Eniola Shokunbi, 9, from Middletown who wrote and mailed UConn a letter inviting them to her public school to help her class build the air purifier device and perform experiments.
Photos: UConn Road Trip to EPA
"We are so excited to have Owl Force One here," says EPA Scientist Katherine Ratliff, conducting the biochamber testing of the device. The EPA will make the results publicly available. "Throughout the pandemic, the EPA has been testing much more expensive air cleaning technologies. Testing of this less-expensive device is a no-brainer."
Ratliff added: "We are able to represent a wide range of indoor environments so we are super excited for the tests with Owl Force One."
You can learn online from UConn how to build your own simple, affordable DIY air purifier with just $60 worth of common hardware store supplies and 30 minutes of your time. Here are UConn's simple online directions on how to build your own DIY air filter for your home, classroom, or community setting. Also, view a how-to video by UConn School of Engineering students.
Research shows that the DIY devices are effective at removing the particle sizes most associated with respiratory viruses (particulates with a diameter of ≤ 2.5 µm; PM2.5). They also remove wildfire airborne particles that can cause both immediate and long-term health effects. During a recent smoke event in Connecticut, one air purifier box was able to reduce the indoor air pollution concentration by over 90% within 15 minutes.
The filtration systems are named for their creators, Richard Corsi, dean of engineering at the University of California-Davis, and Jim Rosenthal, CEO of Texas-based company Tex-Air Filters.
The UConn Indoor Air Quality Initiative's cross-campus collaborators include: UConn Health and its Comprehensive Multiple Sclerosis Center, UConn School of Medicine and its Department of Public Health Sciences, UConn School of Engineering, UConn School of Nursing, Connecticut Area Health Education Center Network (CT AHEC), UConn Neag School of Education, and Connecticut Children's.
