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Dr. Alex Huffman Profile picture
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3 May, 5 tweets, 5 min read
An important piece on the dubious "air cleaning" products being sold to school districts & businesses. Via investigations by @LaurenWeberHP @By_CJewett.

It's important to stick to well-proven strategies like improved ventilation & HEPA filtration. (1/x)
khn.org/news/article/a…
2/ A link to the @CNN version of today's story by @LaurenWeberHP @By_CJewett, and a summary thread:
3/ An Op-Ed that @ChemDelphine, @marinavance, & I wrote to add awareness on imp. issues of cleaning air in schools & businesses.
All district constituents should work together to educate & advocate strongly for proven strategies.

coloradosun.com/2021/04/23/saf…
4/ Specifically with respect to electronic air cleaners, read this open letter by @marwa_zaatari & @MarcelHarmon1 (and then send them a note of thanks & encouragement for enduring the resulting backlash).
medium.com/open-letter-to…
5/ Also on the topic of how to provide clean air to #schools & make #K12 buildings safer is this important summary report in @TheLancet.
A short read that covers best practices & also outlines evidence why important for the future.
static1.squarespace.com/static/5ef3652…

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More from @HuffmanLabDU

Dr. Alex Huffman Profile picture
4 May
This story about air cleaners by @LaurenWeberHP & @By_CJewett is important b/c:
- COVID risk in schools is still real & kids <12 yrs won't be vaccinated even by fall
- many well-meaning schools are buying worthless, even harmful products
- millions of tax-payer $$ being wasted
“It’s a high cost for nothing” @marwa_zaatari said" The company has sued her & another air-quality consultant for criticizing their devices. Of the pending case, Zaatari said it is a David-versus-Goliath situation, but she will not be deterred from speaking on behalf of children.
Many products offer promises only supported by the manufacturer.
The investment in proper air-cleaning (ventilation, HEPA filtration, upper-room gUV) will provide health benefits against respiratory aerosol infection AND many other issues for a generation.
Read 4 tweets
Dr. Alex Huffman Profile picture
27 Apr
Excellent new guide on healthy #school buildings. Should be mandatory reading & discussion by all #K12 school boards, districts, school leadership.

Short, easily readable, w/ practical recommendations & support - for COVID & well beyond.

Link: static1.squarespace.com/static/5ef3652… (1/🧵)
2/ Summarized interventions for airborne infectious disease prevention:
1⃣ Commission buildings and examine existing systems
2⃣ Ventilate with clean outdoor air
3⃣ Improve the building’s air cleaning efficiency through evidence-based air cleaning treatment such as filtration
3/ Interventions, cont'd:
4⃣ If the ability to upgrade ventilation and air cleaning is limited, use portable air cleaners with high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filtration
5⃣ Consider other evidence-based air cleaning approaches in the context of existing strategies
Read 8 tweets
Dr. Alex Huffman Profile picture
23 Apr
"We urgently need safer air in schools"

Last month Profs. @ChemDelphine at CU, @marinavance at CSU, & I wrote an #OpEd published today by @ColoradoSun. We wanted to bring a team of #Colorado experts to call for action & advocacy wrt #K12 schools. (1/x)
coloradosun.com/2021/04/23/saf…
2/ "We encourage school districts to use stimulus funds to improve the indoor air quality of their schools. Use evidence-based strategies. Avoid technologies that have not been proven by peer-reviewed scientific research."
3/ "We encourage students, teachers, and the community to engage with district administrators and encourage them to leverage funds to support both the immediate and long-term health of students and staff."
coloradosun.com/2021/04/23/saf…
Read 11 tweets
Dr. Alex Huffman Profile picture
18 Apr
I respectfully disagree that the recent (& important) editorial/review in @TheLancet "omits or dismisses crucial observations." A statement that "close contact" spread cannot be driven largely via aerosol inhalation is a mischaracterization of the inhalation route. (1/x)
2/ You can be infected by a respiratory virus by:

(1) touching something/someone infected & transferring to yourself
(2) receiving a direct spray of large droplets that hit e.g. mucous membranes
(3) inhaling virus in aerosols at either close or long range
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/in…
3/ All three pathways can happen at close-range. Direct observational evidence for any one of the three is nearly impossible for individual cases.

Article outlines clear reasoning why aerosol inhalation should be treated as an important (not only) driver.
thelancet.com/journals/lance…
Read 9 tweets
Dr. Alex Huffman Profile picture
16 Apr
This dude is just wild. If he weren't so influential, best just to ignore his theories about the mysterious, undiscovered properties of air to kill viruses.

Interesting interview by @EJBourke, w/ sanity checks by Drs. Morawska, @jljcolorado, @drajm. (1/x)
abc.net.au/radio/programs…
2/ What gets me is that by invoking the idea of an undiscovered force in outdoor air that is killing airborne viruses, he is somehow trying to change the narrative & ignore his constant opposition to airborne transmission and that EVERYONE agrees that outdoor air is safer.
3/ Enclosed indoor spaces trap exhaled aerosols from diluting into bigger outdoor spaces. Bringing magical anti-virus outdoor air inside is NOT the point. Pushing viral aerosol out IS the point.

This basic principle has been daily news coverage for months.theatlantic.com/health/archive…
Read 6 tweets
Dr. Alex Huffman Profile picture
15 Apr
Ten scientific reasons in support of airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2

By all-stars: @trishgreenhalgh @jljcolorado @kprather88 @zeynep @DFisman & Robert Schooley 👏 (Summary below; 1/x)
thelancet.com/journals/lance…
#1 "superspreading events account for substantial SARS-CoV-2 transmission"

#2 "long-range transmission of SARS-CoV-2 between people in adjacent rooms but never in each other's presence has been documented in quarantine hotels."
#3: "asymptomatic or presymptomatic transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from people who are not coughing or sneezing is likely to account for at least a third, and perhaps up to 59%, of all transmission globally and is a key way SARS-CoV-2 has spread around the world"
Read 12 tweets

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