EPA Testing Shows the Power of D-I-Y Air Filters to Trap Viruses

The results are in: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency research testing of do-it-yourself ‘Corsi-Rosenthal Box’ indoor air filters shows they are 99% effective in removing airborne virus. The 'Owl Force One' device tested by the EPA was built by UConn Indoor Air Quality Initiative researchers with Middletown, Connecticut public school children.

There is a low-cost way for you to protect yourself and reduce your risk of respiratory diseases such as flu, RSV, and COVID-19. Build yourself a Corsi-Rosenthal box (CR box) in 30 minutes with just $60 worth of common hardware store supplies.

In July, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency scientists began several weeks of advanced bioaerosol chamber testing to assess the efficacy and power of this air filter against infectious aerosols, like the virus that causes COVID-19. The results are in, and they are good.

The U.S. EPA Office of Research and Development’s 3,000 cubic ft. bioaerosol chamber testing results show that the CR box removes 97% of infectious aerosols in just 30 minutes, and 99.4% within 60 minutes. Importantly, the device successfully captures a surrogate virus for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

A team of EPA scientists led by Katherine Ratliff conducted the bioaerosol chamber testing of the CR box after testing more expensive air cleaning technologies throughout the pandemic.

“The study results are extremely exciting,” says EPA’s Ratliff. “These CR boxes really work. The Corsi-Rosenthal box works against infectious aerosols in the air. The results are really powerful. Three different sets of biochamber testing data show that these air filters reduce the amount of infectious virus in the air and capture both smaller and larger sized particles. CR boxes are more effective at reducing concentrations of infectious aerosols in indoor air than some of the more expensive technologies that we tested.”

“These scientific results are huge!” says Marina Creed, APRN, director of the UConn Indoor Air Quality Initiative. “These inexpensive, do-it-yourself air filters are for everyone. If you put this in your home, it will remove infectious germs that cause disease from the air. Schools, students, and teachers if you run one of these inside your classrooms it can reduce your exposure to viruses and bacteria, reducing the risk of disease transmission, meaning you are less likely to get sick.”..

EPA Testing Shows the Power of D-I-Y Air Filters to Trap Viruses - UConn Today