Several years of community service and real-world research of the cross-campus UConn Indoor Air Quality Initiative has led to the awarding of $11.5 million in state support to UConn to bring access to low-cost, do-it-yourself “Corsi-Rosenthal” air-purifiers to every individual public school classroom in Connecticut.
On October 22 the State Bond Commission in Connecticut approved funding for the UConn Indoor Air Quality Initiative to administer and implement the purchase of equipment and materials for the construction and installation of individual classroom air purifiers. The state funding awarded to UConn will be part of SAFE-CT: Supplemental Air Filtration for Education Supplemental under the Clean Air Equity Response Program.
“We are pleased to offer these inexpensive devices to all classrooms across Connecticut,” says the Director of the UConn Indoor Air Quality Initiative, Marina Creed, an APRN who also serves UConn Health as a neuroimmunology nurse practitioner. “When schools, students, and teachers run one of these inside their classrooms it will reduce their exposure to viruses and bacteria, reducing the risk of disease transmission, meaning they are less likely to get sick.”
Creed adds, “Thank you to the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and General Assembly for putting the health of our students and teachers first.”
Although these devices are created simply with just $60 of hardware store materials, they have been shown to be incredibly effective. The EPA and UConn jointly tested the devices in the EPA’s large bioaerosol test chamber, and results showed that in just 60 minutes it effectively removes over 99 percent of airborne viruses including the virus that causes COVID-19. Plus, recently published collaborative research findings by UConn and Arizona State University also show that DIY air purifiers work better than commercial HEPA air cleaners for a fraction of the cost...
https://today.uconn.edu/2024/10/uconn-keeping-air-in-connecticut-classrooms-safe/#
