Objective

To evaluate the efficacy of the Protect 200 at reducing aerosolized MS2 bacteriophage, a surrogate for SARS-CoV-2, the disease causing COVID-19.

Methodology

The effectiveness of the system was assessed in a 1m³ bioaerosol chamber for a single (1) RNA based virus, MS2. Testing was conducted in triplicate trials plus a control trial to demonstrate the capability of reducing viable bioaerosol concentrations. There were a total of four (4) independent trials in this study.

 MS2 bacteriophage was aerosolized into a sealed 1m³ environmental chamber containing the Protect 200 system. Impinger samples were collected at set time points throughout each trial. All impinger samples were serially diluted, plated, and enumerated in triplicate to yield viable bioaerosol concentration at each sampling point and time. Chamber control trial data was subtracted from Protect 200 trial data to yield net LOG reduction in the chamber for viable bioaerosol and concentrations. Three trials were conducted to evaluate the Protect 200 system’s efficacy at removing viable MS2 bacteriophage from the air in the test chamber.

Results

The Protect 200 device performed well, in the 1m³ test enclosure, achieving a bioaerosol reduction of 4.07 +/- 0.13 net LOG of viable airborne MS2 concentration within a 180-minute period.

The Protect 200 was shown to reduce aerosolized MS2 bacteriophage by 99.991% in 180 minutes.