Page 41 - HaMizrachi Tisha B'Av AUS 2021

The potential risk for airborne transmis-
sion of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes
COVID-19, has brought awareness for safer
indoor environments in the spotlight. And
this need has put a small Israeli company,
with an artificial intelligence technology
solution to purify and manage indoor air
quality, at the heart of the battle on how
to keep public indoor spaces open and safe.
You can see the haze and you can see the
smog, so people know about outdoor air
quality. But no one was paying enough
attention to the indoor environment.
COVID-19 has made sure people are now
paying attention. And Aura Air has been
working around the clock to satisfy the
demand.
Through the accompanying app, you can Research Shows
COVID-19 is Not the Whole Story see the volatile organic compounds (VOC) Following the challenges faced with
But COVID-19 is not the only harmful which are emitted as gases, humidity levels infections in hospitals, at the beginning
airborne particle to be found in our envi- (if the indoor relative humidity is above 60 of August 2019, Aura Air and The Depart-
ronment: Particles of dust (PM2.5, PM percent then mold and mildew begin to ment of General and Oncological Surgery
10), pollen, insects, animal hair, volatile form), and CO and CO2 levels as compared at The Chaim Sheba Medical Center in
organic compounds (VOCs), bad odors, to the local outdoor conditions. There are Ramat Gan, Israel, experimented with the
viruses such as influenza H1N1 ( known as airborne particles, gases, and aerosols car- implementation of air purifiers to disinfect
the swine flu) and H5N1 (known as the bird rying viruses in the air. If you cannot smell and purify the air from various pollutants.
flu), and bacteria like E-Coli and MRSA. it, you think everything is fine. The app
All are found in the indoor air we breathe was created to help visualize the problems. In previous experiments run by Aura Air,
every day. The user can add categories – if they are and in the pilot at Sheba Medical Center,
it was demonstrated that the filter made
With 25% of Americans staying indoors asthmatic or allergic to dust, the sensors by the company successfully managed to
for 21-24 hours daily and with the aver- will create an indoor air quality environ- filter a series of high-risk pathogens includ-
age Brit spending 22 hours a day indoors, ment to suit these needs. Moreover, the app ing various viruses, such as Influenza H1N1
COVID-19 highlighted the great need to can highlight relevant high-risk scenarios and Influenza H5N1. In May 2020, the com-
constantly purify and disinfect our indoor and notify the user of what needs to be pany began a clinical experiment to test
environments. disinfected or purified. the effectiveness of Aura Air’s disinfec-
tion capabilities on the Coronavirus, with
Creation and manufacturing are all com-
Aura Air results showing that Aura AIr was 99.9%
pleted in the Aura Air factory located in effective at disinfecting against COVID-19
The Aura Air platform detects air quality Beit El, Israel. While production once stood particles, among other pathogens.
indoor and outdoor on real-time monitor- at 1,500 units per month, Aura Air now
ing through an array of smart sensors, fil- produces close to 10,000 units per month
tering and disinfecting air through four and while more expensive, all packaging Aura Air in Use
unique stages: is made of 100% recycled and recyclable In March 2020, Aura Air had clients in just
First, the pre-filter catches large particles materials. three countries. By December, the company
of dust, pollen, insects, animal hair and
other large particles. The pre-filter also Coronavirus Reduction Ratio (normalized results)
absorbs VOCs and bad odors and filters
viruses, and bacteria. The Ray-Filter™ then Sample Duration of Treatment
neutralizes bacteria, viruses, and parasites. 10 mins. 20 min. 30 min.
Then a UVC LED component and a Steri-
onizer™ generate positive and negative Aura Air treated Low AIBV conc. 99.99999 99.99975 100
ions to purify and freshen indoor air and Aura Air treated High AIBV conc. 99.98325 99.93515 99.6845
continue to eliminate harmful pollutants.

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