NE HEALTH BUREAU
CHENNAI, DEC 16
Air purifier manufacturer Aura Air, who has recently partnered with WIPRO Lighting for an exclusive partnership for India has conducted a study on Air Quality Index (AQI) inside Indian In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) centers across India.
IVF procedures require a stable culture environment in which indoor air quality plays a crucial role. Indoor air quality parameters like VOC, PM2.5 and PM 10 have a direct impact over the procedure outcome.
Aura Air took the initiative to see the IAQ (Indoor Air Quality) in various well known IVF centers and the results are disconcerting, says the report.
- Aura Air’s study finds health-threatening concentrations of Volatile Organic Compounds
- Poor indoor Air Quality Index underscores need for smart air-purification solutions
- IVF centres today have a dedicated budget for equipment that monitors and reduces VOC levels (such as a Photoionisation Detector, which has also been listed in the ART Bill): Bharadwaj PV, Managing Director, Aura Air.
Multiple exercises on indoor-air-monitoring were conducted at independent IVF centers across the country. For analyses, the key premise-based parameters taken into consideration were: AQI, PM (Particulate Matter) 2.5 and PM 10, VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds), CO2 (Carbon Dioxide), CO (Carbon Monoxide), temperature, and humidity.
During the study, Aura Air found that the AQI in the lab spiked over 250 on average at several occasions which is classified to be unhealthy and life threatening. VOC, a common indoor air-pollutant was the dominant pollutant of the study, in which the highest recorded level was 2600ppb, whereas the permissible or safe level is less than 500ppb. It was found that CO2, PM 2.5, PM 10 and CO levels were within the permissible range.
Commenting on this, Bharadwaj PV, Managing Director, Aura Air said, “Air particles or any kind of pollutants found within labs can be detrimental to the entire IVF process. This study was conducted to create awareness about the importance of monitoring air-quality in real time. In fact, the Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) Bill mandates monthly air-quality reports for Indian IVF centres. IVF centres today have a dedicated budget for equipment that monitors and reduces VOC levels (such as a Photoionisation Detector, which has also been listed in the ART Bill).
Indoor air pollutants can be controlled through high quality filters based on HEPA. Aura Air’s preoperatory 4 stage filtration technology was found to be extremely effective in bringing down the VOC levels to less than 256ppb in just a few hours. A minimum of 80% overall reduction in the VOC levels was seen in all the test areas and the AQI was ameliorated to below 100 with an average improvement of 53%.
We are confident that medical laboratories, IVF centres and hospitals will soon prioritize investing in airquality monitoring and purification technologies to get rid of harmful VOCs that could hamper the outcomes in labs.”
