As a growing chorus of health authorities point to aerosols as a key transmission route for SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, and as the U.S. rapidly sets new records for coronavirus cases, Aerapy LLC announced that its ultraviolet (UV) disinfection technology achieved up to a 99.97% reduction of the SARS-CoV-2 pathogen in the air, in one air pass, in independent laboratory testing. Aerapy UV also achieved a 99.98% reduction on surfaces in two seconds (99.99% in three seconds). Results were achieved with proper installation and utilizing Aerapy’s proprietary sizing method. Because the company did a live air pass test, Aerapy’s results are unique among other UV laboratory studies of SARS-CoV-2 inactivation that perform simulated passes.

“As we learn more about how COVID-19 spreads, the experts increasingly agree that airborne transmission and aerosolization of the SARS-CoV-2 virus plays a much greater role than what was believed by many at the start of this pandemic,” says Annette Uda, founder and president of Aerapy. “This is why we did not test just on surfaces, we tested against SARS-CoV-2 in the air where Aerapy UV reduced the pathogen up to 99.97%.”

The third-party testing, conducted at the laboratories of Innovative Bioanalysis in Costa Mesa, Calif., utilized Aerapy UV equipment designed for HVAC systems where air passes across the Aerapy device, which harnesses the power of UV-C to deactivate bacteria, mold, and viruses in the air. The testing firm conducted an actual single pass of air test showing what would happen in a quarter or half second of time. This latest testing against SARS-CoV-2 joins the company’s previous independent laboratory testing against pathogens including MRSA, enterovirus, and MS2 bacteriophage, all of which also showed a greater than 99.9% reduction.

“During these winter months, as we increasingly gather indoors and as cases surge, science points to a multipronged strategy that includes addressing SARS-CoV-2 in the air, as well as on surfaces,” says Uda. “Aerapy’s UV disinfecting technology is designed for a variety of indoor environments including restaurants, healthcare and first responder facilities, schools and municipal buildings, places of worship, gyms, and more, that need help now and as all businesses plan for the future.”

The independent testing against SARS-CoV-2 was conducted in a chamber constructed at the laboratory and designed to mimic an indoor environment with HVAC in place. More details on the performed SARS-CoV-2 testing and information on additional studies, including a recently published three-year retrospective field study at an animal shelter where Aerapy’s UV equipment was found to significantly decrease upper respiratory infections, are available from Aerapy