{"id":41638,"date":"2021-09-17T23:54:38","date_gmt":"2021-09-17T23:54:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/proair.ee\/the-austrian-ministry-of-education-is-ordering-4000-air-purifiers-for-schools-and-will-cover-all-costs-a-clear-endorsement-of-hepa-filter-technology-in-accordance-with-the-en-1822-standard\/"},"modified":"2021-09-17T23:54:38","modified_gmt":"2021-09-17T23:54:38","slug":"the-austrian-ministry-of-education-is-ordering-4000-air-purifiers-for-schools-and-will-cover-all-costs-a-clear-endorsement-of-hepa-filter-technology-in-accordance-with-the-en-1822-standard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/proair.ee\/en\/the-austrian-ministry-of-education-is-ordering-4000-air-purifiers-for-schools-and-will-cover-all-costs-a-clear-endorsement-of-hepa-filter-technology-in-accordance-with-the-en-1822-standard\/","title":{"rendered":"The Austrian Ministry of Education is ordering 4,000 air purifiers for schools and will cover all costs. A clear endorsement of HEPA filter technology in accordance with the EN 1822 standard"},"content":{"rendered":"

To prevent the emergence of COVID-19 hotspots in Austrian schools and to enable largely safe in-person classroom instruction, the Ministry of Education is increasingly relying on the use of mobile air purifiers in schools for the new school year. A total of <\/span>4,000 mobile air purifiers<\/span><\/strong> have been requested by Austrian schools so far, according to the Federal Ministry of Education, as reported by the Winter Zeitung, citing the Ministry of Education.<\/span><\/h2>\n

Education Minister Heinz Fa\u00dfmann continues to rely on regular classroom ventilation to reduce the risk of indirect transmission from virus-carrying aerosol particles. Fa\u00dfmann acknowledged, however, that manual ventilation\u2014opening windows\u2014is not technically feasible because, for example, safety devices prevent windows from opening fully in all schools. In the future, <\/span>portable<\/span><\/strong> air purifiers will reduce the viral load in these classrooms.<\/span><\/p>\n

Several schools responded to the Ministry of Education\u2019s short-notice call to report their need for portable air purifiers. In total, school administrators have ordered 4,000 units, and approximately 1,000 units have already been delivered by Trotec.<\/span><\/p>\n

The government in Germany has also reached the same conclusion.<\/p>\n

The question facing our Ministry of Education and Research today.<\/p>\n

The Austrian Ministry of Education is paying for an air purifier<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

The Austrian Ministry of Education will cover the cost of approximately 4,000 portable air purifiers. This decision came as a surprise to schools. Previously, the ministry had announced that it would cover only a portion of the cost, with schools expected to cover the remainder. To ensure that classrooms are equipped as quickly as possible for the new school year, the Department of Education will now cover all costs.<\/span><\/p>\n

Clear air thanks to H13 and H14 HEPA filter technology.<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

As in Germany, equipment equipped with H13 or H14 filters is used.<\/p>\n

When it comes to <\/span>the technical requirements for indoor air purifiers,<\/span><\/strong> the Ministry of Education follows the recommendations of the Federal Procurement Office (BBG).<\/span><\/p>\n

Requirements that an air purification device must meet:<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n
    \n
  1. At least 4.4 air changes per hour (using one or more units)<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Maximum of 47 dB(A) with the ventilation specified above<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. HEPA filter, Class H13 or H14<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. The use of devices that generate ozone in indoor air should be explicitly avoided.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    In adhering to the criteria for mobile air purifiers, the federal procurement agency largely follows scientific recommendations, which stipulate that only mobile air purifiers equipped with H13 or H14 HEPA filter technology\u2014with a high filtration efficiency of 99.95 percent (H13) or 99.995 percent (H14), ensuring reliable protection against viruses present in indoor air.  <\/span><\/p>\n

    Austria’s Federal Ministry of Labor Warns of the Dangers of Unsuitable Air Purifiers<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

    Only mechanical virus removal using a filter system is permitted.<\/p>\n

    The Austrian Federal Ministry of Labor reaches a similar conclusion in its decree dated August 1, 2021, titled ” <\/span>Equipment that uses chemicals (e.g., hydrogen peroxide, sodium hypochlorite) to reduce viral load or \u201cpurify inhaled air of pathogens is not permitted<\/span><\/em> ” <\/span> <\/p>\n

    Explanation:<\/span><\/p>\n

      \n
    • Chemicals sprayed with these devices are not considered work materials under Section 2(6) of the ASchG, as these materials are not directly used in the course of work<\/span>
      \nTherefore, the provisions of mandatory health insurance cannot be applied.<\/span><\/li>\n
    • The release of chemicals into the air at the workplace or the generation of free radicals, as well as reaction or decomposition products resulting from cold plasma processes or radiation, may in principle pose a potential health hazard or even a danger to employees. This is in violation of Section 22(3) of the ASchG. <\/span><\/li>\n
    • To use these devices in the workplace, <\/span>require the employer to provide complete and detailed documentation to<\/span>
      \nrule out any potential adverse effects\u2014both from the chemicals actually used and sprayed, as well as<\/span>
      \nother reaction products that may be formed <\/span>. Under realistic conditions, <\/span>, it is hardly possible to fully account for all potential risks and effects on workers\u2019 health; <\/span>therefore, the use of such equipment should be avoided.<\/span><\/li>\n
    • It is permitted to use devices whose operating mode is based solely on<\/span>
      \npurely mechanical filtration of indoor air<\/span>.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Back to In-Person Learning with Trotec’s High-Performance Air Purifiers<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

      Mobile air purifiers can be used to reduce virus-laden aerosols in indoor air in a controlled manner, thereby virtually eliminating the risk of indirect transmission, explains Professor Christian K\u00e4hler of the Federal University of the Armed Forces in Munich.<\/span><\/p>\n

      “With portable air purifiers, you can almost completely eliminate the risk of indirect transmission in schools if you use them correctly … These devices offer good protection against all virus variants.”<\/span><\/em>
      \nProf. Christian K\u00e4hler, University of the Federal Armed Forces, Munich<\/span><\/p>\n

      In a safety concept developed specifically for schools, Christian K\u00e4hler explained how, despite the widespread Delta variant, it is possible to ensure safe in-person instruction in schools with the help of air purifiers. An internationally recognized aerosol expert, he has spent about 25 years studying the formation, spread, and evaporation of aerosol particles in space. In his school safety concept, the scientist demonstrates how students and teachers can best protect themselves from coronavirus infection in the classroom. Instead of conventional ventilation with open windows, TAC\u2019s high-performance air purifier with HEPA filter class H14 (certified according to standard EN 1822) enables infection-safe teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      To prevent the emergence of COVID-19 hotspots in Austrian schools and to enable largely safe in-person classroom instruction, the Ministry of Education is increasingly relying on the use of mobile air purifiers in schools for the new school year. A total of 4,000 mobile air purifiers have been requested by Austrian schools so far, according […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41639,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"close","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"both","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":301,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41638","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/proair.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41638","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/proair.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/proair.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/proair.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/proair.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41638"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/proair.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41638\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/proair.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41639"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/proair.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41638"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/proair.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41638"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/proair.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41638"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}