Assessment of air purifier on efficient removal of airborne bacteria, Staphylococcus epidermidis, using single-chamber method

We evaluated the efficiency of an air purifier using the single-chamber method for the effective removal of airborne Staphylococcus epidermidis, a nosocomial infection–causing bacterium. In this experiment, the bacterial strain S. epidermidis was injected using a nebulizer into the test chamber, which was similar to a consumer living space (60 m3). The microbial sampling was conducted via the air sampler method, and the reduction in S. epidermidis growth was monitored by performing three consecutive tests. Initially, a blank test was conducted to determine the natural decay rate and calibrate the experimental setup. After injecting the bacterial strain from 1240 to 11180 CFU per unit volume (m3), the natural decay rate showed a maximum deviation of 3.1% with a sampling error of 1.1% p at a confidence level of 95%. In addition, the particle size distribution in the test chamber was found to range from 0.3 to 5.0 μm, and a subsequent decrease in large-sized particles was observed with the operation of the air purifier, which is the size similar to that of suspended airborne bacteria. This can be used to assess the performance of the air purifier by calibrating the natural reduction value to the reduced operation value. Thus, the single-chamber technique is a promising approach for analyzing the removal efficacy of airborne bacteria from indoor air.