Indoor Air Disinfection
Periodic indoor air disinfection is important for keeping people safe and healthy, especially during a pandemic. Chlorine dioxide is ideal for the quick elimination of odors, pathogens, and allergens in the air, and, in low concentrations, is gentle yet effective enough for daily indoor air disinfection at home and in high-concentration public areas such as restaurants, offices, gyms, bars, airports, pet shops (which have a high concentration of bioaerosols), etc., without the production of toxic by-products that may harm users. Typical cleaning products for household disinfection can increase disinfection byproducts, or DBPs, in the air that, when exposed to, can cause adverse health effects; when chlorine dioxide degrades, it leaves chlorite (a regulated byproduct) and chloride (as found in table salt). Viral transmissions caused by group gatherings can also be minimized and/or eliminated when using safe chlorine dioxide disinfection; it is especially useful in households with elderly and immunocompromised residents that may be at higher risk of infection and disease.
For air disinfectants to be effective, the US EPA designates that they must be able to remove small airborne particles, which are typically 0.1-1 µm (micrometer). Furthermore, particles that are particularly small (< 5 µm) remain in the air indefinitely under most indoor conditions. Chlorine dioxide molecules are much smaller in size, approximately 0.124 nm—smaller than viruses, bacteria, mold & spores, etc. in the air. Its oxidation mechanism is based on size selectivity rather than differences in the biochemistry of humans and microbes making it capable of eliminating pathogenic microbes without affecting humans; human cells also have glutathione and other antioxidants in much larger production quantities than bacteria that circulate throughout the body to reduce chlorine dioxide levels (which make it safe to drink in small amounts as in regulated tap water disinfection not at home). Previous research has demonstrated that chlorine dioxide’s killing time is proportional to the diameter of the microbe meaning that it can destroy the proteins of the microbes that are necessary for life processes and kill these small particles extremely fast. Because of this, chlorine dioxide, at safe consumption levels, is an ideal agent for the elimination of bacteria (incl. superbugs), viruses, molds, fungi, spores, etc. that linger in the air and in hard-to-reach areas like air ducts.
Chlorine dioxide's predominant oxidation reaction mechanism, like that of ozone, is a process known as free radical electrophilic (electron-attracting) abstraction. Unlike oxidative substitution or addition, which occurs with chlorinating agents such as chlorine or hypochlorite, chlorinated organic compounds such as trihalomethanes (THMs) and haloacetic acids (HAAs) are not produced at the end of a chlorine dioxide oxidation reaction. In fact, chlorine dioxide does not react with as wide a variety of organic and inorganic material as other disinfecting agents. The presence of organic matter, while reducing antimicrobial activity, retains the antimicrobial action of chlorine dioxide longer in comparison with most other decontaminating agents. And unlike the ozonation of organic substances by ozone, chlorine dioxide doesn't produce large amounts of organic substances such as aldehydes, ketones, ketone acids, or other byproducts or combine with organic matter to form chlorinated hydrocarbons which are known carcinogens.
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Using chlorine dioxide for swimming pool disinfection generates no harmful by-products and can protect swimmers from many diseases by killing pathogens including bacteria, viruses, and fungi in the water and stopping algae growth on the walls. For example, chlorine dioxide can prevent pink eye (conjunctivitis), the most common eye infection from swimming and often called “swimming pool conjunctivitis,” from spreading. It is ideal for eliminating cryptosporidium, a diarrhea-inducing parasite that can still exist even in properly chlorinated pools, and for reducing exposure to toxic nitrogenous (chloramines) or carcinogenic organic residuals (trihalomethanes) and HAAs. It also protects women from gynecologic diseases caused by different types of bacterial infections. Babies and those with sensitive skin similarly benefit from reduced irritation, especially when swimming in public pools.
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