Airmid Healthgroup Blog
Jul 20 2012 |
For this blog entry we are covering the topic of Legionnaires' disease following the outbreak in Edinburgh last month and more recently the outbreak in Stoke-on-Trent in England. Scotland's Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon reported that the number of confirmed and suspected cases of Legionnaires' disease in Edinburgh had risen to 40. Air Quality professionals suspected the source of the outbreak was environmental contamination and early indications suggest it was the result of a contaminated cloud being emitted from a cooling tower in the south west of the city, while the source of the outbreak in Stoke-on-Trent has not yet been identifed.
This post has been written by Peter Desmond, Scientific Researcher, Airmid Healthgroup. Peter is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin with a B.A (mod.) in Microbiology.
Jun 28 2012 |
In this blog post I want to bring to your attention a follow up article recently produced by airmid healthgroup which is also in the area of antimicrobial validation studies. As previously highlighted, antimicrobial technologies are receiving growing media attention due to the requirement for infection control in commonly contaminated areas. These technologies are valued for their contribution to the control of infectious diseases in sectors such as airline travel, cleanroom facilities and sports facilities.
This article on the assessment of antimicrobial surfaces and antimicrobial validation studies has been produced as a follow up to the recent interview of Dr John Fallon, Head of Microbiology.
The article goes in to further details of the various assessments and validation studies of antimicrobial surfaces developed by bodies such as the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) and the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists (AATCC).
Apr 25 2012 |
The often quoted statistic that according to the USA EPA we spend over 80% of our time indoors, and that indoor air quality can be up to 5 times more polluted than outdoor air has new relevance with some recent changes in the indoor ecosystem. The constant drive for energy efficiency can have a negative impact on indoor air quality and recent publications about the issue of ultrafine particles is bringing air quality in the built environment under the spotlight. Consumers are reenergised about the right to breath ‘fresh air indoors’ and consumer products such as electrical appliances and cleaning services are coming under scrutiny. However there is a tool industry can use to fight back and that is large climate controlled environmental test chambers. Angela Southey is manager of one of the few aerobiology test facilities of its kind in the world which combines an environmental test chamber with state of the art air sampling, microbiology, molecular biology and measurement of airborne allergens.
This article has been written in Q and A format following an interview with Angela Southey PhD at the test facility at airmid healthgroup and is a hugely informative interview on the subject.
Dr Southey what is an environmental test chamber?
The New York Times recently published an article in its health section on the problem of ultrafine particles following a recent study published out of Australia. The study has raised serious concerns as to the safety of many of today’s most popular vacuum cleaners but is it confined to vacuum cleaners?
by Dr Bruce Mitchell, CEO Airmid Healthgroup and Consultant Immunologist
That the emission of ultrafine particles from certain Vacuum Cleaners which incorporate HEPA based filtration can result in consumers being exposed to bacterial fragments, and other noxious particulate materials is of concern and some surprise.
However, recognising that the composition of household dust includes bacteria, viruses, mold and toxins, and with a knowledge of their associated particle sizes, perhaps it should not be surprising.
The 11th World Filtration Congress starts today and will embrace the whole spectrum of filtration and separation technologies from around the world for five days from 16th- 20th April 2012.
It will be held in Graz, a Unesco World Heritage Site. It is the largest and most important Filtration Event in 2012 world-wide.
Exhibitors from the world-wide filtration and separation industry, manufacturers of particle measurement instruments as well as related industries will feature the latest innovations and technology. Airmid Healthgroup will be there joining the debate on Airborne Infectious Agents, Aerobiology Research and Ultrafine particles.
Apr 11 2012 |
The story of how we helped Spring Air Develop World’s First asthma & allergy friendly Certified Mattress
Apr 02 2012 |
Significant media interest in Carpet and IAQ study from US Immunology Conference
There was a huge amount of interest during the recent presentation of data of a research and innovation project carried out in the Airmid Healthgroup state of the art climate controlled test chambers by Dr Angela Southey one of the lead researchers on the project.
The findings related to indoor air quality and carpets and utilized airmid’ s uniquely integrated facility which combines molecular biology and state-of-the-art air sampling in a highly developed AC-1 chamber, where they can follow nominated viruses, bacteria, molds or other ultra-fine particles as they become air-borne and are distributed throughout the chamber.